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

6 months to
29 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 128 98 189
Rank change year-on-year -30 +91 -11
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,190 1,165 1,276
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.49% 3.08% 1.53%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.99% 3.31% 1.79%
Number of salaries quoted 704 384 714
10th Percentile £32,825 £40,000 £36,000
25th Percentile £43,750 £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 £57,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +5.26% +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 59,771 35,248 71,159
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 74.96% 93.04% 85.59%
Number of salaries quoted 37,816 20,543 53,619
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,773 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -0.38% +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% -10.57%

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 29 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 29 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 +69 348 £77,500 +10.71% 230
South East -25 280 £55,000 +7.84% 183
North of England +35 214 £55,550 +16.50% 99
Midlands -69 146 £37,500 -33.33% 81
North West +20 131 £58,000 +21.64% 58
East of England -68 98 £60,000 +5.26% 73
West Midlands -15 94 £44,000 -33.58% 51
South West -43 87 £55,000 +0.92% 83
Yorkshire -28 56 £60,000 +26.32% 30
East Midlands -96 50 £30,000 -41.18% 30
North East -15 27 £51,500 -9.25% 13
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 (3.70%) Apache Airflow
2 28 (2.35%) Apache Spark
3 23 (1.93%) Apache
4 20 (1.68%) Confluence
5 17 (1.43%) Microsoft Exchange
6 12 (1.01%) Appian
6 12 (1.01%) CMS
7 7 (0.59%) SharePoint
8 6 (0.50%) 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 (7.56%) Microsoft Excel
2 58 (4.87%) Microsoft Office
3 18 (1.51%) MS Visio
4 15 (1.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.50%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 6 (0.50%) Simulink
5 6 (0.50%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.42%) Microsoft Project
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 (2.18%) SAP S/4HANA
2 17 (1.43%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.76%) SAP ERP
4 6 (0.50%) 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
1 159 (13.36%) Azure
2 112 (9.41%) Power Platform
3 93 (7.82%) AWS
4 49 (4.12%) SaaS
5 46 (3.87%) GCP
6 44 (3.70%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (2.61%) Dynamics 365
7 31 (2.61%) Serverless
8 30 (2.52%) Azure Data Factory
9 27 (2.27%) Microsoft 365
10 26 (2.18%) Power Automate
10 26 (2.18%) Snowflake
11 25 (2.10%) Amazon S3
12 22 (1.85%) Entra ID
12 22 (1.85%) GitHub
13 20 (1.68%) dbt
14 15 (1.26%) Anthropic Claude
15 13 (1.09%) OpenShift
16 12 (1.01%) Azure AI
17 11 (0.92%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 29 (2.44%) CHAP
2 26 (2.18%) Firewall
3 23 (1.93%) Broadband
4 21 (1.76%) DNS
5 19 (1.60%) WAN
6 17 (1.43%) SD-WAN
7 13 (1.09%) Wireless
8 12 (1.01%) TCP/IP
9 11 (0.92%) 5G
9 11 (0.92%) 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 (0.50%) Cisco ISE
13 6 (0.50%) WebEx
13 6 (0.50%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 110 (9.24%) Power BI
2 46 (3.87%) SQL Server
3 45 (3.78%) Tableau
4 33 (2.77%) Metadata
5 32 (2.69%) Relational Database
6 29 (2.44%) Data Warehouse
6 29 (2.44%) PostgreSQL
7 20 (1.68%) Data Lake
8 17 (1.43%) Spark SQL
9 16 (1.34%) Azure SQL Database
9 16 (1.34%) Oracle Reports
10 15 (1.26%) Oracle Database
11 14 (1.18%) MySQL
11 14 (1.18%) Parquet
12 13 (1.09%) Apache Hive
12 13 (1.09%) Impala
12 13 (1.09%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 12 (1.01%) Amazon Redshift
13 12 (1.01%) Pinecone
14 10 (0.84%) Spotfire
Development Applications
1 62 (5.21%) Git
2 54 (4.54%) JIRA
3 36 (3.03%) Rational DOORS
4 20 (1.68%) Jenkins
5 17 (1.43%) GitLab
5 17 (1.43%) Postman
6 16 (1.34%) Snyk
7 15 (1.26%) MLflow
7 15 (1.26%) Selenium
8 14 (1.18%) LabVIEW
9 13 (1.09%) IBM UrbanCode
10 11 (0.92%) 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
1 377 (31.68%) Social Skills
2 313 (26.30%) Finance
3 273 (22.94%) Analytical Skills
4 87 (7.31%) Aerospace
4 87 (7.31%) Banking
5 86 (7.23%) Manufacturing
6 81 (6.81%) Electronics
7 57 (4.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 44 (3.70%) Legal
9 43 (3.61%) Law
10 41 (3.45%) Marketing
10 41 (3.45%) Retail
11 40 (3.36%) Financial Institution
12 34 (2.86%) Pharmaceutical
13 33 (2.77%) Public Sector
14 28 (2.35%) Presentation Skills
15 26 (2.18%) Organisational Skills
16 25 (2.10%) Aviation
17 23 (1.93%) Automotive
18 20 (1.68%) Games
Job Titles
1 207 (17.39%) Analyst
2 198 (16.64%) Senior
3 149 (12.52%) Systems Engineer
4 89 (7.48%) Test Engineer
5 80 (6.72%) Lead
6 78 (6.55%) Validation Engineer
7 72 (6.05%) Architect
7 72 (6.05%) Business Analyst
8 58 (4.87%) Data Analyst
9 48 (4.03%) Data Engineer
10 46 (3.87%) Integration Engineer
11 41 (3.45%) Principal Engineer
12 38 (3.19%) Developer
12 38 (3.19%) Junior
12 38 (3.19%) Senior Systems Engineer
13 36 (3.03%) Systems Integration Engineer
13 36 (3.03%) Verification Engineer
14 34 (2.86%) Software Validation Engineer
15 32 (2.69%) Auditor
16 29 (2.44%) Principal Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (4.20%) REST
2 35 (2.94%) Pandas
3 30 (2.52%) JSON
4 27 (2.27%) Middleware
5 26 (2.18%) pytest
6 22 (1.85%) PySpark
6 22 (1.85%) XML
7 20 (1.68%) OAuth
8 19 (1.60%) Swagger
9 18 (1.51%) JWT
9 18 (1.51%) PyTorch
9 18 (1.51%) TensorFlow
10 17 (1.43%) .NET
10 17 (1.43%) React
10 17 (1.43%) RESTful
11 16 (1.34%) Kafka
11 16 (1.34%) NumPy
11 16 (1.34%) Playwright
12 15 (1.26%) CSS
13 14 (1.18%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 76 (6.39%) Management Information System
2 50 (4.20%) Onboarding
3 42 (3.53%) Data Structures
4 35 (2.94%) Self-Motivation
5 34 (2.86%) Low-Code
6 33 (2.77%) Legacy Systems
7 28 (2.35%) Analytical Mindset
8 27 (2.27%) Product Ownership
9 26 (2.18%) Life Science
10 24 (2.02%) Data Centre
11 20 (1.68%) Enterprise Software
12 19 (1.60%) Embedded Systems
13 17 (1.43%) Algorithms
14 16 (1.34%) Robotics
15 15 (1.26%) Blockchain
15 15 (1.26%) Cloud Native
16 14 (1.18%) IoT
16 14 (1.18%) Reinsurance
17 13 (1.09%) Driving Licence
18 11 (0.92%) Hackathon
Operating Systems
1 64 (5.38%) Linux
2 50 (4.20%) Windows
3 20 (1.68%) 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 (22.27%) Problem-Solving
2 229 (19.24%) Agile
3 206 (17.31%) Continuous Improvement
3 206 (17.31%) Verification and Validation
4 172 (14.45%) Analytics
5 155 (13.03%) Data Validation
6 152 (12.77%) AI
6 152 (12.77%) CI/CD
7 150 (12.61%) Test Automation
8 132 (11.09%) Business Intelligence
9 124 (10.42%) Data Modelling
10 122 (10.25%) Decision-Making
11 121 (10.17%) Migration
12 119 (10.00%) Data Governance
13 115 (9.66%) Systems Engineering
14 111 (9.33%) User Acceptance Testing
15 110 (9.24%) DevOps
16 108 (9.08%) Stakeholder Management
17 105 (8.82%) ETL
17 105 (8.82%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 252 (21.18%) SQL
2 239 (20.08%) Python
3 40 (3.36%) C++
4 38 (3.19%) Java
5 32 (2.69%) C
6 29 (2.44%) JavaScript
7 28 (2.35%) PowerShell
8 21 (1.76%) Bash
8 21 (1.76%) Go
9 20 (1.68%) MATLAB
10 18 (1.51%) T-SQL
11 17 (1.43%) C#
12 16 (1.34%) TypeScript
13 12 (1.01%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 9 (0.76%) VBA
15 8 (0.67%) Embedded C
15 8 (0.67%) R
16 7 (0.59%) VB
17 6 (0.50%) PHP
18 5 (0.42%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 264 (22.18%) Degree
2 134 (11.26%) Security Cleared
3 116 (9.75%) BPSS Clearance
4 60 (5.04%) Master's Degree
5 47 (3.95%) SC Cleared
6 39 (3.28%) CISSP
7 38 (3.19%) CISA
8 36 (3.03%) CISM
8 36 (3.03%) Computer Science Degree
9 33 (2.77%) Chartered Engineer
9 33 (2.77%) SANS
10 32 (2.69%) DV Cleared
11 29 (2.44%) CGEIT
11 29 (2.44%) FFIEC
12 25 (2.10%) HNC
13 21 (1.76%) HND
14 15 (1.26%) PMI Certification
15 12 (1.01%) ISTQB
15 12 (1.01%) PMP
16 8 (0.67%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 175 (14.71%) Data Quality
2 116 (9.75%) QA
3 63 (5.29%) GDPR
4 40 (3.36%) Accessibility
5 36 (3.03%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 31 (2.61%) GRC
6 31 (2.61%) NIST
7 29 (2.44%) COBIT
8 21 (1.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 17 (1.43%) IFRS
10 15 (1.26%) SLA
11 12 (1.01%) GAAP
12 11 (0.92%) 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 8 (0.67%) ISO/IEC 12207
16 7 (0.59%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 54 (4.54%) Docker
2 29 (2.44%) Active Directory
3 23 (1.93%) 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 55 (4.62%) Kubernetes
2 44 (3.70%) Terraform
3 27 (2.27%) Grafana
4 17 (1.43%) Ansible
4 17 (1.43%) 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%) Puppet
9 4 (0.34%) Rancher
9 4 (0.34%) yum
10 3 (0.25%) HP Fortify
10 3 (0.25%) Kibana
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 (13.70%) Microsoft
2 65 (5.46%) Oracle
3 50 (4.20%) SAP
4 36 (3.03%) Salesforce
5 24 (2.02%) Databricks
6 23 (1.93%) Red Hat
7 19 (1.60%) Cisco
7 19 (1.60%) VMware
8 18 (1.51%) CrowdStrike
9 16 (1.34%) Palo Alto
9 16 (1.34%) Tenable
10 15 (1.26%) Adobe
10 15 (1.26%) ServiceNow
11 14 (1.18%) Foundry
11 14 (1.18%) Google
12 13 (1.09%) Citrix
12 13 (1.09%) IBM
12 13 (1.09%) OpenAI
13 12 (1.01%) Automation Anywhere
13 12 (1.01%) UiPath