Validation Job Trends in England

Validation
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in England requiring Validation skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 9 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 153 160 198
Rank change year-on-year +7 +38 -61
Permanent jobs citing Validation 831 876 779
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.58% 1.81% 1.62%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.94% 2.00% 1.80%
Number of salaries quoted 455 326 457
10th Percentile £36,250 £36,250 £36,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £45,000 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -8.00%
75th Percentile £78,750 £71,250 £76,250
90th Percentile £90,750 £100,000 £90,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -11.54%

All Process & Methodology Skills
England

Validation falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in England.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 42,771 43,733 43,286
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 81.37% 90.61% 89.79%
Number of salaries quoted 25,631 21,503 33,434
10th Percentile £28,500 £35,000 £32,000
25th Percentile £37,500 £45,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £76,250 £81,250 £80,000
90th Percentile £96,750 £100,000 £100,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

Validation
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Validation relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

Validation job vacancy trend in England

Validation
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Validation.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Validation

Validation
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing Validation in England over the 6 months to 9 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Validation in England

Validation
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Validation within the England region over the 6 months to 9 January 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London +31 259 £75,000 +20.00% 206
South East +30 207 £49,750 -17.08% 391
North of England -12 122 £55,000 +19.57% 206
Midlands +20 85 £41,000 -21.15% 159
East of England +2 76 £60,000 +9.09% 181
North West -4 76 £54,500 +14.30% 80
South West +16 69 £52,500 -4.55% 187
West Midlands +5 51 £37,500 -28.57% 60
Yorkshire -5 36 £61,250 +63.33% 96
East Midlands +9 34 £42,500 -5.56% 97
North East 0 10 £31,000 -25.30% 31
Validation
UK

Validation
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 19 (2.29%) Confluence
2 18 (2.17%) Apache Airflow
3 12 (1.44%) Apache Spark
4 9 (1.08%) CMS
4 9 (1.08%) SharePoint
4 9 (1.08%) SugarCRM
5 8 (0.96%) Apache
5 8 (0.96%) Appian
6 5 (0.60%) Microsoft Exchange
7 4 (0.48%) Headless CMS
8 3 (0.36%) Jupyter
8 3 (0.36%) SAS
9 2 (0.24%) Kinematics
9 2 (0.24%) WordPress
10 1 (0.12%) Anypoint
10 1 (0.12%) Apache Superset
10 1 (0.12%) FileNet
10 1 (0.12%) Luigi
Applications
1 56 (6.74%) Microsoft Office
2 54 (6.50%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.56%) MS Visio
3 13 (1.56%) Simulink
4 7 (0.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.72%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 4 (0.48%) Fusion 360
7 2 (0.24%) Adobe After Effects
7 2 (0.24%) Adobe Captivate
7 2 (0.24%) Adobe Illustrator
7 2 (0.24%) Adobe Premiere
7 2 (0.24%) Elementor
7 2 (0.24%) Mathcad
7 2 (0.24%) Oracle Smart View
7 2 (0.24%) Photoshop
7 2 (0.24%) Weka
8 1 (0.12%) CATIA
8 1 (0.12%) Doxygen
8 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Project
8 1 (0.12%) Solid Edge
Business Applications
1 20 (2.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (0.96%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.48%) Oracle ERP
3 4 (0.48%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 4 (0.48%) SAP BPC
4 3 (0.36%) Oracle Assets
4 3 (0.36%) Oracle Cash Management
4 3 (0.36%) Oracle General Ledger
4 3 (0.36%) Oracle Payables
4 3 (0.36%) Oracle Receivables
4 3 (0.36%) SAP CX
4 3 (0.36%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.24%) Aladdin
5 2 (0.24%) Endur
5 2 (0.24%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 2 (0.24%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.24%) Primavera
5 2 (0.24%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.12%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.12%) SAP Business One
Cloud Services
1 122 (14.68%) Azure
2 66 (7.94%) Power Platform
3 59 (7.10%) AWS
4 41 (4.93%) SaaS
5 31 (3.73%) Azure DevOps
6 26 (3.13%) GCP
7 17 (2.05%) Dynamics 365
7 17 (2.05%) Snowflake
8 16 (1.93%) Power Automate
9 15 (1.81%) GitHub
10 14 (1.68%) Azure Data Factory
11 13 (1.56%) dbt
11 13 (1.56%) Microsoft 365
12 12 (1.44%) Amazon S3
13 10 (1.20%) Entra ID
13 10 (1.20%) Figma
13 10 (1.20%) Serverless
14 9 (1.08%) Azure AI
15 8 (0.96%) Anthropic Claude
15 8 (0.96%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 14 (1.68%) LAN
2 12 (1.44%) CHAP
2 12 (1.44%) DNS
2 12 (1.44%) Firewall
3 9 (1.08%) WAN
4 8 (0.96%) 5G
4 8 (0.96%) HTTP
4 8 (0.96%) TCP/IP
5 7 (0.84%) MQTT
5 7 (0.84%) SD-WAN
6 5 (0.60%) Cisco IOS
6 5 (0.60%) Modbus
6 5 (0.60%) SMTP
6 5 (0.60%) WAAS
7 4 (0.48%) DHCP
7 4 (0.48%) Ethernet VPN
7 4 (0.48%) Network Security
7 4 (0.48%) VoIP
8 3 (0.36%) NX-OS
8 3 (0.36%) PBX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 64 (7.70%) Power BI
2 26 (3.13%) SQL Server
3 24 (2.89%) Data Warehouse
3 24 (2.89%) Tableau
4 20 (2.41%) Metadata
4 20 (2.41%) Relational Database
5 18 (2.17%) BigQuery
6 14 (1.68%) Oracle Reports
7 10 (1.20%) Spotfire
8 9 (1.08%) Big Data
8 9 (1.08%) Data Lake
9 8 (0.96%) Amazon Redshift
9 8 (0.96%) Pinecone
10 7 (0.84%) Looker
10 7 (0.84%) PostgreSQL
11 6 (0.72%) GIS
11 6 (0.72%) NoSQL
12 5 (0.60%) Azure SQL Database
12 5 (0.60%) Data Vault
12 5 (0.60%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 61 (7.34%) JIRA
2 38 (4.57%) Rational DOORS
3 37 (4.45%) Git
4 23 (2.77%) Postman
5 15 (1.81%) Jenkins
6 14 (1.68%) Selenium
7 11 (1.32%) GitLab
8 10 (1.20%) MLflow
8 10 (1.20%) SoapUI
8 10 (1.20%) TestRail
9 9 (1.08%) Cucumber
9 9 (1.08%) JMeter
10 7 (0.84%) Eclipse
10 7 (0.84%) LabVIEW
10 7 (0.84%) LoadRunner
11 5 (0.60%) Charles Proxy
11 5 (0.60%) Fiddler
11 5 (0.60%) TestNG
11 5 (0.60%) Zephyr
12 4 (0.48%) Browser DevTools
General
1 302 (36.34%) Social Skills
2 214 (25.75%) Finance
3 178 (21.42%) Analytical Skills
4 52 (6.26%) Banking
4 52 (6.26%) Law
5 51 (6.14%) Electronics
6 44 (5.29%) Marketing
7 42 (5.05%) Manufacturing
8 41 (4.93%) Presentation Skills
9 40 (4.81%) Documentation Skills
10 36 (4.33%) Financial Institution
11 34 (4.09%) Organisational Skills
12 29 (3.49%) Telecoms
13 26 (3.13%) Aerospace
13 26 (3.13%) Retail
14 25 (3.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 25 (3.01%) Public Sector
15 24 (2.89%) Pharmaceutical
16 20 (2.41%) Influencing Skills
17 17 (2.05%) Legal
Job Titles
1 128 (15.40%) Analyst
2 121 (14.56%) Senior
3 86 (10.35%) Lead
3 86 (10.35%) Systems Engineer
4 49 (5.90%) Architect
5 44 (5.29%) Test Engineer
6 37 (4.45%) Business Analyst
7 36 (4.33%) Data Analyst
8 32 (3.85%) Validation Engineer
9 30 (3.61%) Data Engineer
9 30 (3.61%) Developer
9 30 (3.61%) Integration Engineer
9 30 (3.61%) Junior
9 30 (3.61%) Principal Engineer
10 28 (3.37%) Applications Engineer
11 27 (3.25%) Applications Support
12 24 (2.89%) Solutions Architect
13 23 (2.77%) Support Engineer
14 22 (2.65%) Applications Support Engineer
14 22 (2.65%) Systems Integration Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (5.17%) REST
2 28 (3.37%) Middleware
3 24 (2.89%) JSON
4 23 (2.77%) Pandas
5 20 (2.41%) XML
6 19 (2.29%) pytest
6 19 (2.29%) scikit-learn
7 16 (1.93%) TensorFlow
8 15 (1.81%) PyTorch
9 14 (1.68%) NumPy
10 13 (1.56%) CSS
10 13 (1.56%) FastAPI
10 13 (1.56%) HTML
10 13 (1.56%) OAuth
11 12 (1.44%) JWT
11 12 (1.44%) React
11 12 (1.44%) Swagger
11 12 (1.44%) Web Services
12 11 (1.32%) Flask
13 10 (1.20%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 77 (9.27%) Management Information System
2 37 (4.45%) Life Science
3 35 (4.21%) Onboarding
4 25 (3.01%) Operational Technology
4 25 (3.01%) Product Ownership
5 24 (2.89%) Self-Motivation
6 17 (2.05%) Algorithms
7 16 (1.93%) Legacy Systems
7 16 (1.93%) Low-Code
8 15 (1.81%) Data Structures
8 15 (1.81%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 12 (1.44%) Analytical Mindset
9 12 (1.44%) Enterprise Software
9 12 (1.44%) SCADA
10 11 (1.32%) SWIFT Messaging Network
11 9 (1.08%) Credit Risk
11 9 (1.08%) Data Centre
12 8 (0.96%) CMDB
12 8 (0.96%) e-Learning
12 8 (0.96%) LIMS
Operating Systems
1 41 (4.93%) Windows
2 33 (3.97%) Linux
3 11 (1.32%) Windows Server
4 9 (1.08%) Android
5 7 (0.84%) Unix
6 5 (0.60%) Windows 10
7 3 (0.36%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.24%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.12%) AIX
9 1 (0.12%) FreeRTOS
9 1 (0.12%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.12%) Robot Operating System
9 1 (0.12%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 195 (23.47%) Agile
2 188 (22.62%) Problem-Solving
3 132 (15.88%) Verification and Validation
4 117 (14.08%) Data Validation
5 110 (13.24%) Analytics
6 104 (12.52%) Migration
7 103 (12.39%) Continuous Improvement
8 92 (11.07%) Test Automation
9 84 (10.11%) DevOps
10 83 (9.99%) Systems Engineering
11 81 (9.75%) Decision-Making
12 80 (9.63%) ETL
12 80 (9.63%) Mentoring
13 77 (9.27%) Data Analysis
14 76 (9.15%) Business Intelligence
15 75 (9.03%) Software Engineering
16 73 (8.78%) CI/CD
16 73 (8.78%) Roadmaps
17 71 (8.54%) Data Management
18 67 (8.06%) AI
Programming Languages
1 183 (22.02%) SQL
2 156 (18.77%) Python
3 27 (3.25%) Java
4 26 (3.13%) C
4 26 (3.13%) MATLAB
5 24 (2.89%) JavaScript
6 23 (2.77%) C++
7 18 (2.17%) PowerShell
8 13 (1.56%) Bash
8 13 (1.56%) TypeScript
9 9 (1.08%) R
10 7 (0.84%) C#
10 7 (0.84%) T-SQL
11 6 (0.72%) Bicep
12 5 (0.60%) PHP
12 5 (0.60%) PL/SQL
13 3 (0.36%) Embedded C
13 3 (0.36%) GLSL
13 3 (0.36%) Tcl
13 3 (0.36%) VB
Qualifications
1 255 (30.69%) Degree
2 102 (12.27%) Security Cleared
3 94 (11.31%) BPSS Clearance
4 47 (5.66%) SC Cleared
5 44 (5.29%) Master's Degree
6 39 (4.69%) Computer Science Degree
7 20 (2.41%) HNC
8 19 (2.29%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (1.93%) ISTQB
10 15 (1.81%) Microsoft Certification
11 14 (1.68%) CISA
11 14 (1.68%) CISSP
11 14 (1.68%) DV Cleared
12 13 (1.56%) CGEIT
12 13 (1.56%) CISM
12 13 (1.56%) FFIEC
12 13 (1.56%) SANS
13 12 (1.44%) CCNP
14 11 (1.32%) Chartered Engineer
14 11 (1.32%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 109 (13.12%) Data Quality
2 101 (12.15%) QA
3 35 (4.21%) SLA
4 31 (3.73%) ISO/IEC 15288
5 30 (3.61%) GDPR
6 28 (3.37%) GxP
7 27 (3.25%) Accessibility
8 17 (2.05%) NIST
9 13 (1.56%) COBIT
10 11 (1.32%) ISO 20022
10 11 (1.32%) SEPA
11 10 (1.20%) Good Clinical Practice
11 10 (1.20%) ISO/IEC 12207
11 10 (1.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
12 8 (0.96%) 21 CFR Part 11
12 8 (0.96%) GRC
12 8 (0.96%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 8 (0.96%) WCAG
13 7 (0.84%) TARGET2
14 5 (0.60%) ARP4761
System Software
1 40 (4.81%) Docker
2 22 (2.65%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (2.05%) Firmware
4 9 (1.08%) Active Directory
5 2 (0.24%) Ceph
5 2 (0.24%) Lustre
5 2 (0.24%) Microsoft Virtual Server
5 2 (0.24%) Slurm Workload Manager
5 2 (0.24%) vCloud
5 2 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
5 2 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.24%) vSphere
6 1 (0.12%) Embedded Firmware
6 1 (0.12%) iptables
6 1 (0.12%) OpenAM
6 1 (0.12%) OpenDJ
6 1 (0.12%) OpenIDM
6 1 (0.12%) pfSense
6 1 (0.12%) Virtual Desktop
6 1 (0.12%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 33 (3.97%) Kubernetes
2 15 (1.81%) Terraform
3 14 (1.68%) Ansible
4 10 (1.20%) Grafana
5 9 (1.08%) Microsoft Intune
6 7 (0.84%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 6 (0.72%) Prometheus
8 5 (0.60%) SCCM
9 3 (0.36%) Argo
9 3 (0.36%) Rancher
9 3 (0.36%) yum
10 2 (0.24%) Docker Swarm
10 2 (0.24%) Functional Safety
10 2 (0.24%) Kubeflow
10 2 (0.24%) Nessus
10 2 (0.24%) Rundeck
11 1 (0.12%) Control-M
11 1 (0.12%) Kibana
11 1 (0.12%) Progress Chef
11 1 (0.12%) Puppet
Vendors
1 104 (12.52%) Microsoft
2 50 (6.02%) SAP
3 31 (3.73%) Oracle
4 26 (3.13%) VMware
5 25 (3.01%) Cisco
6 21 (2.53%) Salesforce
7 15 (1.81%) Foundry
8 13 (1.56%) Software AG
9 12 (1.44%) IBM
10 11 (1.32%) CheckPoint
10 11 (1.32%) F5
11 9 (1.08%) Adobe
11 9 (1.08%) OpenAI
11 9 (1.08%) ServiceNow
12 8 (0.96%) Automation Anywhere
12 8 (0.96%) Databricks
12 8 (0.96%) Intapp
12 8 (0.96%) UiPath
13 7 (0.84%) Google
14 6 (0.72%) Guidewire