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 28 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 132 115 188
Rank change year-on-year -17 +73 -11
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,186 1,049 1,275
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.49% 2.77% 1.53%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.99% 2.98% 1.79%
Number of salaries quoted 704 385 714
10th Percentile £33,075 £40,000 £36,000
25th Percentile £44,000 £46,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% +1.82% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £56,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +6.19% +2.73% -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 59,680 35,184 71,106
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 75.01% 93.01% 85.59%
Number of salaries quoted 37,727 20,624 53,592
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,450 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -0.92% +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £100,000 £102,500 £93,750
UK median annual salary £57,500 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.17% +9.09% -10.93%

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 28 April 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 28 April 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 +75 350 £77,500 +10.71% 292
South East -25 274 £55,000 +7.84% 222
North of England +36 214 £58,000 +21.64% 107
Midlands -60 146 £37,500 -33.33% 90
North West +30 132 £60,000 +25.83% 63
East of England -64 99 £60,000 +5.26% 85
West Midlands -10 93 £44,000 -33.58% 59
South West -47 86 £55,000 +0.92% 86
Yorkshire -29 55 £60,000 +26.32% 30
East Midlands -82 51 £30,000 -41.18% 31
North East -18 27 £51,500 -9.25% 16
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 44 (3.71%) Apache Airflow
2 28 (2.36%) Apache Spark
3 23 (1.94%) Apache
4 20 (1.69%) Confluence
5 17 (1.43%) Microsoft Exchange
6 12 (1.01%) Appian
6 12 (1.01%) CMS
7 7 (0.59%) SharePoint
8 6 (0.51%) Kinematics
9 4 (0.34%) Headless CMS
10 2 (0.17%) IIS
11 1 (0.084%) Anypoint
11 1 (0.084%) ArcGIS
11 1 (0.084%) Artix
11 1 (0.084%) Jupyter
11 1 (0.084%) Palantir Foundry
11 1 (0.084%) SAS
11 1 (0.084%) WordPress
Applications
1 90 (7.59%) Microsoft Excel
2 58 (4.89%) Microsoft Office
3 18 (1.52%) MS Visio
4 15 (1.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.51%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 6 (0.51%) Simulink
6 5 (0.42%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.42%) Spreadsheet
7 4 (0.34%) Fusion 360
8 3 (0.25%) Solid Edge
8 3 (0.25%) SOLIDWORKS
9 2 (0.17%) AutoCAD
9 2 (0.17%) CATIA
9 2 (0.17%) Oracle Smart View
10 1 (0.084%) Adobe After Effects
10 1 (0.084%) Adobe Captivate
10 1 (0.084%) Adobe Illustrator
10 1 (0.084%) Adobe Premiere
10 1 (0.084%) Photoshop
10 1 (0.084%) Revit
Business Applications
1 26 (2.19%) SAP S/4HANA
2 18 (1.52%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.84%) SAP ERP
4 6 (0.51%) SAP MDG
5 5 (0.42%) Loan IQ
6 4 (0.34%) SAP MDG-BP
7 3 (0.25%) iTrent
7 3 (0.25%) Oracle Applications
7 3 (0.25%) Oracle EBS
7 3 (0.25%) Oracle ERP
7 3 (0.25%) Workday HCM
8 2 (0.17%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
9 1 (0.084%) Magento
9 1 (0.084%) NetSuite
9 1 (0.084%) Oracle Payables
9 1 (0.084%) Oracle Receivables
9 1 (0.084%) SAP Business ByDesign
9 1 (0.084%) SAP EHS
9 1 (0.084%) SAP FSCM
9 1 (0.084%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 157 (13.24%) Azure
2 112 (9.44%) Power Platform
3 92 (7.76%) AWS
4 49 (4.13%) SaaS
5 45 (3.79%) GCP
6 43 (3.63%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (2.61%) Dynamics 365
8 30 (2.53%) Serverless
9 29 (2.45%) Azure Data Factory
10 27 (2.28%) Microsoft 365
11 26 (2.19%) Power Automate
11 26 (2.19%) Snowflake
12 25 (2.11%) Amazon S3
13 22 (1.85%) Entra ID
13 22 (1.85%) GitHub
14 20 (1.69%) dbt
15 15 (1.26%) Anthropic Claude
16 13 (1.10%) OpenShift
17 12 (1.01%) Azure AI
18 11 (0.93%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 29 (2.45%) CHAP
2 26 (2.19%) Firewall
3 23 (1.94%) Broadband
4 21 (1.77%) DNS
5 19 (1.60%) WAN
6 17 (1.43%) SD-WAN
7 13 (1.10%) Wireless
8 12 (1.01%) TCP/IP
9 11 (0.93%) 5G
9 11 (0.93%) HTTP
10 10 (0.84%) LAN
11 8 (0.67%) Modbus
11 8 (0.67%) NAS
12 7 (0.59%) Ethernet
12 7 (0.59%) MQTT
12 7 (0.59%) Network Security
12 7 (0.59%) VPN
13 6 (0.51%) Cisco ISE
13 6 (0.51%) WebEx
13 6 (0.51%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 110 (9.27%) Power BI
2 45 (3.79%) SQL Server
2 45 (3.79%) Tableau
3 34 (2.87%) Metadata
4 32 (2.70%) Relational Database
5 29 (2.45%) Data Warehouse
5 29 (2.45%) PostgreSQL
6 19 (1.60%) Data Lake
7 17 (1.43%) Spark SQL
8 16 (1.35%) Oracle Reports
9 15 (1.26%) Azure SQL Database
9 15 (1.26%) Oracle Database
10 14 (1.18%) MySQL
10 14 (1.18%) Parquet
11 13 (1.10%) Apache Hive
11 13 (1.10%) Impala
11 13 (1.10%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 12 (1.01%) Amazon Redshift
12 12 (1.01%) Pinecone
13 10 (0.84%) Spotfire
Development Applications
1 62 (5.23%) Git
2 54 (4.55%) JIRA
3 36 (3.04%) Rational DOORS
4 19 (1.60%) Jenkins
5 17 (1.43%) Postman
6 16 (1.35%) GitLab
6 16 (1.35%) Snyk
7 15 (1.26%) MLflow
7 15 (1.26%) Selenium
8 14 (1.18%) LabVIEW
9 13 (1.10%) IBM UrbanCode
10 11 (0.93%) JMeter
11 10 (0.84%) Cucumber
11 10 (0.84%) Eclipse
12 8 (0.67%) TestRail
13 7 (0.59%) LoadRunner
14 5 (0.42%) Cypress.io
14 5 (0.42%) SonarQube
14 5 (0.42%) SpecFlow
14 5 (0.42%) Subversion
General
1 378 (31.87%) Social Skills
2 309 (26.05%) Finance
3 272 (22.93%) Analytical Skills
4 87 (7.34%) Banking
5 85 (7.17%) Manufacturing
6 82 (6.91%) Aerospace
7 80 (6.75%) Electronics
8 58 (4.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 45 (3.79%) Legal
10 43 (3.63%) Law
11 41 (3.46%) Marketing
11 41 (3.46%) Retail
12 40 (3.37%) Financial Institution
13 33 (2.78%) Pharmaceutical
14 32 (2.70%) Public Sector
15 28 (2.36%) Presentation Skills
16 26 (2.19%) Organisational Skills
17 25 (2.11%) Aviation
18 23 (1.94%) Automotive
19 20 (1.69%) Games
Job Titles
1 207 (17.45%) Analyst
2 194 (16.36%) Senior
3 150 (12.65%) Systems Engineer
4 85 (7.17%) Test Engineer
5 81 (6.83%) Lead
6 78 (6.58%) Validation Engineer
7 72 (6.07%) Architect
8 71 (5.99%) Business Analyst
9 58 (4.89%) Data Analyst
10 47 (3.96%) Data Engineer
10 47 (3.96%) Integration Engineer
11 38 (3.20%) Developer
11 38 (3.20%) Junior
11 38 (3.20%) Principal Engineer
11 38 (3.20%) Senior Systems Engineer
12 36 (3.04%) Systems Integration Engineer
12 36 (3.04%) Verification Engineer
13 34 (2.87%) Software Validation Engineer
14 32 (2.70%) Auditor
15 29 (2.45%) Principal Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (4.30%) REST
2 35 (2.95%) Pandas
3 30 (2.53%) JSON
4 27 (2.28%) Middleware
5 26 (2.19%) pytest
6 22 (1.85%) PySpark
6 22 (1.85%) XML
7 20 (1.69%) OAuth
8 19 (1.60%) Swagger
9 18 (1.52%) JWT
9 18 (1.52%) PyTorch
9 18 (1.52%) TensorFlow
10 17 (1.43%) .NET
10 17 (1.43%) React
10 17 (1.43%) RESTful
11 16 (1.35%) Kafka
11 16 (1.35%) NumPy
11 16 (1.35%) Playwright
12 15 (1.26%) CSS
12 15 (1.26%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 77 (6.49%) Management Information System
2 50 (4.22%) Onboarding
3 41 (3.46%) Data Structures
4 35 (2.95%) Self-Motivation
5 34 (2.87%) Low-Code
6 33 (2.78%) Legacy Systems
7 28 (2.36%) Analytical Mindset
8 27 (2.28%) Product Ownership
9 25 (2.11%) Life Science
10 24 (2.02%) Data Centre
11 20 (1.69%) Enterprise Software
12 19 (1.60%) Embedded Systems
13 17 (1.43%) Algorithms
14 16 (1.35%) Robotics
15 15 (1.26%) Blockchain
15 15 (1.26%) Cloud Native
16 14 (1.18%) IoT
16 14 (1.18%) Reinsurance
17 13 (1.10%) Driving Licence
18 11 (0.93%) Hackathon
Operating Systems
1 63 (5.31%) Linux
2 50 (4.22%) Windows
3 19 (1.60%) Unix
4 17 (1.43%) Windows Server
5 10 (0.84%) Android
5 10 (0.84%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 4 (0.34%) Apple iOS
6 4 (0.34%) FreeRTOS
6 4 (0.34%) Mac OS X
7 3 (0.25%) AIX
7 3 (0.25%) Kali Linux
7 3 (0.25%) Robot Operating System
8 2 (0.17%) ThreadX
8 2 (0.17%) VxWorks
9 1 (0.084%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 265 (22.34%) Problem-Solving
2 228 (19.22%) Agile
3 208 (17.54%) Continuous Improvement
4 200 (16.86%) Verification and Validation
5 174 (14.67%) Analytics
6 156 (13.15%) Data Validation
7 153 (12.90%) AI
8 151 (12.73%) CI/CD
9 146 (12.31%) Test Automation
10 132 (11.13%) Business Intelligence
11 124 (10.46%) Data Modelling
12 122 (10.29%) Decision-Making
12 122 (10.29%) Migration
13 120 (10.12%) Data Governance
14 116 (9.78%) Systems Engineering
15 111 (9.36%) User Acceptance Testing
16 110 (9.27%) Stakeholder Management
17 108 (9.11%) DevOps
18 104 (8.77%) ETL
18 104 (8.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 253 (21.33%) SQL
2 235 (19.81%) Python
3 38 (3.20%) C++
3 38 (3.20%) Java
4 29 (2.45%) C
4 29 (2.45%) JavaScript
5 28 (2.36%) PowerShell
6 21 (1.77%) Go
7 20 (1.69%) Bash
8 18 (1.52%) T-SQL
9 17 (1.43%) C#
9 17 (1.43%) MATLAB
10 16 (1.35%) TypeScript
11 12 (1.01%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 9 (0.76%) VBA
13 8 (0.67%) Embedded C
13 8 (0.67%) R
14 7 (0.59%) VB
15 6 (0.51%) PHP
16 5 (0.42%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 261 (22.01%) Degree
2 135 (11.38%) Security Cleared
3 112 (9.44%) BPSS Clearance
4 60 (5.06%) Master's Degree
5 46 (3.88%) SC Cleared
6 39 (3.29%) CISSP
7 38 (3.20%) CISA
8 37 (3.12%) Computer Science Degree
9 36 (3.04%) CISM
10 33 (2.78%) SANS
11 32 (2.70%) DV Cleared
12 30 (2.53%) Chartered Engineer
13 29 (2.45%) CGEIT
13 29 (2.45%) FFIEC
14 25 (2.11%) HNC
15 21 (1.77%) HND
16 15 (1.26%) PMI Certification
17 12 (1.01%) ISTQB
17 12 (1.01%) PMP
18 8 (0.67%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 175 (14.76%) Data Quality
2 114 (9.61%) QA
3 63 (5.31%) GDPR
4 40 (3.37%) Accessibility
5 36 (3.04%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 31 (2.61%) GRC
6 31 (2.61%) NIST
7 29 (2.45%) COBIT
8 21 (1.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 17 (1.43%) IFRS
10 15 (1.26%) SLA
11 12 (1.01%) GAAP
12 11 (0.93%) GMP
13 10 (0.84%) Good Clinical Practice
13 10 (0.84%) IEC 61508
13 10 (0.84%) PMO
14 9 (0.76%) ISO 9001
14 9 (0.76%) WCAG
15 7 (0.59%) 21 CFR Part 11
15 7 (0.59%) GxP
System Software
1 53 (4.47%) Docker
2 29 (2.45%) Active Directory
3 23 (1.94%) Firmware
4 17 (1.43%) Virtual Machines
5 12 (1.01%) vSphere
6 8 (0.67%) VMware Infrastructure
7 5 (0.42%) Embedded Firmware
7 5 (0.42%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.17%) Terminal Services
8 2 (0.17%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.084%) iptables
9 1 (0.084%) OpenAM
9 1 (0.084%) OpenDJ
9 1 (0.084%) OpenIDM
9 1 (0.084%) pfSense
Systems Management
1 54 (4.55%) Kubernetes
2 43 (3.63%) Terraform
3 26 (2.19%) Grafana
4 16 (1.35%) Ansible
4 16 (1.35%) Prometheus
5 14 (1.18%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
6 12 (1.01%) Functional Safety
7 10 (0.84%) SCCM
8 7 (0.59%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.34%) Argo
9 4 (0.34%) Cilium
9 4 (0.34%) Rancher
9 4 (0.34%) yum
10 3 (0.25%) HP Fortify
10 3 (0.25%) Kibana
10 3 (0.25%) Puppet
11 2 (0.17%) BMC PATROL
11 2 (0.17%) Computer Incident Response Team
11 2 (0.17%) PowerCLI
12 1 (0.084%) SQL Sentry
Vendors
1 163 (13.74%) Microsoft
2 66 (5.56%) Oracle
3 52 (4.38%) SAP
4 37 (3.12%) Salesforce
5 24 (2.02%) Databricks
6 23 (1.94%) Red Hat
7 20 (1.69%) Cisco
8 19 (1.60%) VMware
9 18 (1.52%) CrowdStrike
10 16 (1.35%) Palo Alto
10 16 (1.35%) Tenable
11 15 (1.26%) Adobe
11 15 (1.26%) ServiceNow
12 14 (1.18%) Foundry
12 14 (1.18%) Google
13 13 (1.10%) Citrix
13 13 (1.10%) IBM
13 13 (1.10%) OpenAI
14 12 (1.01%) Automation Anywhere
14 12 (1.01%) UiPath