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 14 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 124 76 191
Rank change year-on-year -48 +115 -8
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,260 1,504 1,293
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.56% 3.87% 1.54%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.11% 4.14% 1.81%
Number of salaries quoted 741 408 714
10th Percentile £33,250 £40,000 £35,825
25th Percentile £43,500 £46,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,490 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +6.23% +1.82% -12.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £72,433
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK median annual salary £57,500 £57,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +0.88% +3.64% -12.00%

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 59,681 36,291 71,575
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.92% 93.41% 85.20%
Number of salaries quoted 39,154 20,234 53,682
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £42,000 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £100,000 £102,500 £93,750
UK median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +9.09% -9.84%

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 14 May 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 14 May 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 +64 368 £77,500 +8.77% 314
South East -42 292 £55,000 +7.84% 193
North of England +62 235 £55,000 +15.35% 129
Midlands -88 156 £40,000 -27.27% 88
North West +55 147 £55,000 +15.35% 82
West Midlands -9 101 £44,000 -32.31% 48
East of England -81 96 £60,000 +5.26% 84
South West -38 94 £52,500 -3.67% 100
Yorkshire -30 55 £53,750 +13.16% 36
East Midlands -95 53 £30,000 -42.31% 40
North East -6 33 £52,500 -7.49% 12
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 45 (3.57%) Apache Airflow
2 28 (2.22%) Apache
2 28 (2.22%) Apache Spark
3 19 (1.51%) Confluence
4 16 (1.27%) Microsoft Exchange
5 11 (0.87%) Appian
6 9 (0.71%) CMS
6 9 (0.71%) SharePoint
7 6 (0.48%) Kinematics
7 6 (0.48%) SAS
8 4 (0.32%) Jupyter
9 2 (0.16%) Adobe Experience Manager
9 2 (0.16%) Artix
9 2 (0.16%) IIS
10 1 (0.079%) Anypoint
10 1 (0.079%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.079%) Headless CMS
10 1 (0.079%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 87 (6.90%) Microsoft Excel
2 55 (4.37%) Microsoft Office
3 17 (1.35%) MS Visio
4 13 (1.03%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (0.79%) Microsoft Project
6 9 (0.71%) Simulink
7 6 (0.48%) Spreadsheet
8 5 (0.40%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 5 (0.40%) SOLIDWORKS
9 4 (0.32%) AutoCAD
9 4 (0.32%) Fusion 360
10 3 (0.24%) Adobe XD
10 3 (0.24%) Autodesk Inventor
10 3 (0.24%) Sketch
10 3 (0.24%) Solid Edge
11 2 (0.16%) CATIA
11 2 (0.16%) Oracle Smart View
11 2 (0.16%) Productboard
12 1 (0.079%) Navisworks
12 1 (0.079%) Stateflow
Business Applications
1 28 (2.22%) SAP S/4HANA
2 22 (1.75%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.79%) SAP ERP
4 7 (0.56%) SAP MDG
5 6 (0.48%) Loan IQ
6 5 (0.40%) SAP MDG-BP
7 3 (0.24%) iTrent
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle Applications
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle EBS
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle ERP
8 2 (0.16%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 2 (0.16%) Workday HCM
9 1 (0.079%) Elite 3E
9 1 (0.079%) Magento
9 1 (0.079%) Oracle Payables
9 1 (0.079%) Oracle Receivables
9 1 (0.079%) SAP BRIM
9 1 (0.079%) SAP Business ByDesign
9 1 (0.079%) SAP CX
9 1 (0.079%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 160 (12.70%) Azure
2 117 (9.29%) Power Platform
3 113 (8.97%) AWS
4 58 (4.60%) SaaS
5 53 (4.21%) GCP
6 41 (3.25%) Azure DevOps
7 37 (2.94%) Serverless
8 33 (2.62%) Microsoft 365
9 28 (2.22%) Amazon S3
9 28 (2.22%) Azure Data Factory
9 28 (2.22%) Dynamics 365
10 26 (2.06%) GitHub
10 26 (2.06%) Snowflake
11 24 (1.90%) Power Automate
12 22 (1.75%) Entra ID
13 19 (1.51%) dbt
14 14 (1.11%) Anthropic Claude
14 14 (1.11%) OpenShift
15 13 (1.03%) Azure AI
16 12 (0.95%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 48 (3.81%) Broadband
2 30 (2.38%) Firewall
3 25 (1.98%) CHAP
4 23 (1.83%) DNS
5 21 (1.67%) WAN
6 17 (1.35%) SD-WAN
7 16 (1.27%) 5G
8 15 (1.19%) Wireless
9 12 (0.95%) TCP/IP
10 11 (0.87%) HTTP
11 10 (0.79%) Network Security
12 9 (0.71%) LAN
12 9 (0.71%) MQTT
12 9 (0.71%) NAS
13 8 (0.63%) Modbus
13 8 (0.63%) VPN
13 8 (0.63%) Wi-Fi
14 7 (0.56%) Ethernet
15 6 (0.48%) Cisco ISE
15 6 (0.48%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 114 (9.05%) Power BI
2 48 (3.81%) SQL Server
2 48 (3.81%) Tableau
3 43 (3.41%) PostgreSQL
4 30 (2.38%) Data Warehouse
4 30 (2.38%) Metadata
5 29 (2.30%) Relational Database
6 24 (1.90%) MongoDB
7 20 (1.59%) Data Lake
8 17 (1.35%) Azure SQL Database
8 17 (1.35%) Spark SQL
9 16 (1.27%) Oracle Reports
10 15 (1.19%) Oracle Database
11 14 (1.11%) BigQuery
11 14 (1.11%) MySQL
11 14 (1.11%) Parquet
12 13 (1.03%) Apache Hive
12 13 (1.03%) Impala
12 13 (1.03%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 11 (0.87%) Semantic Layer
Development Applications
1 65 (5.16%) Git
2 53 (4.21%) JIRA
3 35 (2.78%) Rational DOORS
4 26 (2.06%) Jenkins
5 22 (1.75%) GitLab
5 22 (1.75%) Snyk
6 15 (1.19%) LabVIEW
6 15 (1.19%) MLflow
6 15 (1.19%) Postman
7 13 (1.03%) IBM UrbanCode
7 13 (1.03%) Selenium
8 11 (0.87%) Cucumber
8 11 (0.87%) JMeter
9 10 (0.79%) Eclipse
10 7 (0.56%) LoadRunner
11 6 (0.48%) TeamCity
11 6 (0.48%) TestRail
12 5 (0.40%) Cypress.io
12 5 (0.40%) SonarQube
12 5 (0.40%) SpecFlow
General
1 377 (29.92%) Social Skills
2 317 (25.16%) Finance
3 281 (22.30%) Analytical Skills
4 94 (7.46%) Aerospace
4 94 (7.46%) Electronics
5 92 (7.30%) Manufacturing
6 83 (6.59%) Banking
7 71 (5.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 46 (3.65%) Legal
9 45 (3.57%) Law
9 45 (3.57%) Retail
10 43 (3.41%) Marketing
11 37 (2.94%) Public Sector
12 35 (2.78%) Financial Institution
12 35 (2.78%) Pharmaceutical
13 34 (2.70%) Games
14 30 (2.38%) Organisational Skills
15 28 (2.22%) Presentation Skills
16 24 (1.90%) Automotive
17 22 (1.75%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 215 (17.06%) Senior
2 210 (16.67%) Analyst
3 149 (11.83%) Systems Engineer
4 90 (7.14%) Test Engineer
5 87 (6.90%) Architect
5 87 (6.90%) Lead
6 80 (6.35%) Validation Engineer
7 73 (5.79%) Business Analyst
8 58 (4.60%) Data Analyst
9 50 (3.97%) Data Engineer
10 46 (3.65%) Integration Engineer
11 45 (3.57%) Principal Engineer
12 43 (3.41%) Developer
13 38 (3.02%) Junior
14 37 (2.94%) Senior Systems Engineer
15 36 (2.86%) Systems Integration Engineer
16 34 (2.70%) Verification Engineer
17 32 (2.54%) Consultant
18 30 (2.38%) Principal Systems Engineer
18 30 (2.38%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 45 (3.57%) REST
2 33 (2.62%) Pandas
3 31 (2.46%) RESTful
4 28 (2.22%) JSON
5 27 (2.14%) pytest
6 26 (2.06%) Middleware
7 21 (1.67%) PySpark
8 19 (1.51%) OAuth
8 19 (1.51%) Swagger
8 19 (1.51%) XML
9 18 (1.43%) .NET
10 17 (1.35%) JWT
10 17 (1.35%) Kafka
10 17 (1.35%) PyTorch
10 17 (1.35%) TensorFlow
11 16 (1.27%) CSS
11 16 (1.27%) NumPy
11 16 (1.27%) Playwright
12 14 (1.11%) Hugging Face
13 13 (1.03%) OpenAPI
Miscellaneous
1 78 (6.19%) Management Information System
2 55 (4.37%) Onboarding
3 46 (3.65%) Low-Code
4 43 (3.41%) Data Structures
5 38 (3.02%) Cloud Native
6 35 (2.78%) Self-Motivation
7 32 (2.54%) Legacy Systems
8 30 (2.38%) Data Centre
9 29 (2.30%) Analytical Mindset
10 28 (2.22%) Product Ownership
11 25 (1.98%) Life Science
12 24 (1.90%) Algorithms
12 24 (1.90%) Embedded Systems
13 22 (1.75%) Enterprise Software
13 22 (1.75%) Video\Live Streaming
14 20 (1.59%) Distributed Systems
15 18 (1.43%) Driving Licence
16 17 (1.35%) Robotics
17 16 (1.27%) IoT
18 14 (1.11%) Reinsurance
Operating Systems
1 69 (5.48%) Linux
2 55 (4.37%) Windows
3 21 (1.67%) Unix
4 19 (1.51%) Windows Server
5 12 (0.95%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 11 (0.87%) Android
7 5 (0.40%) Apple iOS
8 4 (0.32%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.32%) Mac OS X
9 3 (0.24%) AIX
9 3 (0.24%) Kali Linux
9 3 (0.24%) Robot Operating System
10 2 (0.16%) ThreadX
11 1 (0.079%) Embedded Linux
11 1 (0.079%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 277 (21.98%) Problem-Solving
2 232 (18.41%) Agile
3 221 (17.54%) Continuous Improvement
4 204 (16.19%) Verification and Validation
5 193 (15.32%) AI
6 184 (14.60%) CI/CD
7 183 (14.52%) Analytics
8 172 (13.65%) Test Automation
9 155 (12.30%) Data Validation
10 136 (10.79%) Business Intelligence
11 131 (10.40%) Decision-Making
12 127 (10.08%) Data Modelling
13 125 (9.92%) Migration
14 123 (9.76%) Data Governance
15 121 (9.60%) Software Engineering
16 114 (9.05%) DevOps
17 112 (8.89%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 111 (8.81%) Systems Engineering
19 108 (8.57%) User Acceptance Testing
20 105 (8.33%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 272 (21.59%) Python
2 260 (20.63%) SQL
3 48 (3.81%) C++
4 46 (3.65%) Java
5 41 (3.25%) C
6 38 (3.02%) Go
7 28 (2.22%) JavaScript
7 28 (2.22%) PowerShell
8 25 (1.98%) Bash
8 25 (1.98%) C#
9 22 (1.75%) MATLAB
10 18 (1.43%) T-SQL
11 13 (1.03%) TypeScript
12 12 (0.95%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 11 (0.87%) Embedded C
14 9 (0.71%) VBA
15 8 (0.63%) Embedded C++
16 6 (0.48%) ABAP
16 6 (0.48%) PHP
16 6 (0.48%) VB
Qualifications
1 275 (21.83%) Degree
2 143 (11.35%) Security Cleared
3 118 (9.37%) BPSS Clearance
4 65 (5.16%) Master's Degree
5 56 (4.44%) SC Cleared
6 38 (3.02%) DV Cleared
7 36 (2.86%) Chartered Engineer
8 35 (2.78%) CISA
8 35 (2.78%) CISSP
8 35 (2.78%) Computer Science Degree
9 32 (2.54%) CISM
10 31 (2.46%) SANS
11 25 (1.98%) CGEIT
11 25 (1.98%) FFIEC
12 24 (1.90%) HNC
13 21 (1.67%) HND
14 15 (1.19%) PMI Certification
15 12 (0.95%) PMP
16 11 (0.87%) ISTQB
17 8 (0.63%) ACCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 188 (14.92%) Data Quality
2 121 (9.60%) QA
3 61 (4.84%) GDPR
4 39 (3.10%) GRC
5 38 (3.02%) Accessibility
6 34 (2.70%) ISO/IEC 15288
7 27 (2.14%) NIST
8 25 (1.98%) COBIT
9 23 (1.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 20 (1.59%) IFRS
11 15 (1.19%) SLA
12 13 (1.03%) GAAP
12 13 (1.03%) IEC 61508
13 12 (0.95%) PMO
14 11 (0.87%) GMP
15 10 (0.79%) Good Clinical Practice
16 9 (0.71%) ISO 9001
16 9 (0.71%) WCAG
17 8 (0.63%) ISO 13485
18 7 (0.56%) ISO 26262
System Software
1 51 (4.05%) Docker
2 31 (2.46%) Active Directory
2 31 (2.46%) Firmware
3 22 (1.75%) Virtual Machines
4 14 (1.11%) vSphere
5 8 (0.63%) Embedded Firmware
5 8 (0.63%) VMware Infrastructure
6 4 (0.32%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.16%) Terminal Services
7 2 (0.16%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.079%) iptables
8 1 (0.079%) OpenAM
8 1 (0.079%) OpenDJ
8 1 (0.079%) OpenIDM
Systems Management
1 57 (4.52%) Kubernetes
2 46 (3.65%) Terraform
3 26 (2.06%) Grafana
4 16 (1.27%) Ansible
4 16 (1.27%) Prometheus
5 15 (1.19%) Functional Safety
6 14 (1.11%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 11 (0.87%) SCCM
8 8 (0.63%) Microsoft Intune
9 6 (0.48%) Cilium
10 4 (0.32%) Argo
10 4 (0.32%) Rancher
10 4 (0.32%) yum
11 3 (0.24%) HP Fortify
11 3 (0.24%) Kibana
11 3 (0.24%) Puppet
12 2 (0.16%) BMC PATROL
12 2 (0.16%) Computer Incident Response Team
12 2 (0.16%) FortiGate
12 2 (0.16%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 171 (13.57%) Microsoft
2 70 (5.56%) Oracle
3 59 (4.68%) SAP
4 42 (3.33%) Salesforce
5 26 (2.06%) Red Hat
6 25 (1.98%) CrowdStrike
7 23 (1.83%) Databricks
8 22 (1.75%) Palo Alto
8 22 (1.75%) Tenable
9 20 (1.59%) ServiceNow
9 20 (1.59%) VMware
10 19 (1.51%) Cisco
11 18 (1.43%) Adobe
12 16 (1.27%) Google
13 15 (1.19%) Foundry
14 14 (1.11%) Citrix
14 14 (1.11%) OpenAI
15 11 (0.87%) Automation Anywhere
15 11 (0.87%) IBM
15 11 (0.87%) UiPath