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

6 months to
1 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 138 169 180
Rank change year-on-year +31 +11 -26
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,050 683 1,257
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.49% 1.87% 1.61%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.94% 2.00% 1.86%
Number of salaries quoted 625 350 720
10th Percentile £34,500 £40,000 £35,739
25th Percentile £44,972 £46,000 £43,438
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% +1.82% -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £85,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £56,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +7.14% +1.82% -8.71%

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 54,028 34,071 67,502
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 76.72% 93.22% 86.35%
Number of salaries quoted 33,923 20,346 52,125
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £43,844 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -6.67% +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £98,750 £103,750 £95,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +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 1 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 1 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 +59 327 £75,000 +7.14% 268
South East +34 252 £55,000 +10.00% 215
North of England +7 169 £58,000 +22.11% 152
Midlands -17 125 £37,500 -31.82% 118
North West +11 107 £58,000 +21.64% 74
East of England -9 91 £58,750 +6.82% 96
West Midlands -9 77 £44,000 -33.58% 77
South West -32 72 £55,000 - 89
East Midlands -37 46 £35,000 -31.37% 41
Yorkshire -30 41 £60,000 +26.32% 51
North East -9 21 £50,000 -11.89% 27
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 41 (3.90%) Apache Airflow
2 27 (2.57%) Apache Spark
3 23 (2.19%) Apache
4 14 (1.33%) Microsoft Exchange
5 13 (1.24%) Confluence
6 12 (1.14%) Appian
6 12 (1.14%) CMS
7 8 (0.76%) SharePoint
8 5 (0.48%) Kinematics
9 4 (0.38%) Headless CMS
10 2 (0.19%) WordPress
11 1 (0.095%) Anypoint
11 1 (0.095%) IIS
11 1 (0.095%) Jupyter
11 1 (0.095%) SAS
Applications
1 86 (8.19%) Microsoft Excel
2 52 (4.95%) Microsoft Office
3 16 (1.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 16 (1.52%) MS Visio
4 7 (0.67%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 5 (0.48%) Spreadsheet
6 4 (0.38%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (0.38%) Simulink
7 2 (0.19%) Adobe After Effects
7 2 (0.19%) Adobe Captivate
7 2 (0.19%) Adobe Illustrator
7 2 (0.19%) Adobe Premiere
7 2 (0.19%) Elementor
7 2 (0.19%) Oracle Smart View
7 2 (0.19%) Photoshop
7 2 (0.19%) Solid Edge
7 2 (0.19%) SOLIDWORKS
7 2 (0.19%) Weka
8 1 (0.095%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 17 (1.62%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.24%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.48%) Loan IQ
3 5 (0.48%) SAP ERP
4 4 (0.38%) SAP BPC
5 3 (0.29%) Workday HCM
6 2 (0.19%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 2 (0.19%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (0.19%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 2 (0.19%) SAP CX
6 2 (0.19%) SAP MDG
7 1 (0.095%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.095%) Endur
7 1 (0.095%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.095%) Oracle Financials
7 1 (0.095%) Primavera
7 1 (0.095%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.095%) SAP Business ByDesign
7 1 (0.095%) SAP FSCM
7 1 (0.095%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 147 (14.00%) Azure
2 101 (9.62%) Power Platform
3 81 (7.71%) AWS
4 53 (5.05%) SaaS
5 39 (3.71%) Azure DevOps
6 38 (3.62%) GCP
7 27 (2.57%) Power Automate
8 25 (2.38%) Azure Data Factory
9 24 (2.29%) Amazon S3
9 24 (2.29%) Snowflake
10 23 (2.19%) Dynamics 365
11 22 (2.10%) dbt
12 20 (1.90%) Entra ID
13 19 (1.81%) Microsoft 365
14 18 (1.71%) GitHub
15 14 (1.33%) Datadog
16 13 (1.24%) Anthropic Claude
16 13 (1.24%) OpenShift
17 12 (1.14%) Azure AI
18 11 (1.05%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 25 (2.38%) CHAP
2 18 (1.71%) Broadband
3 15 (1.43%) Firewall
3 15 (1.43%) WAN
4 14 (1.33%) DNS
5 13 (1.24%) SD-WAN
6 11 (1.05%) 5G
7 9 (0.86%) HTTP
7 9 (0.86%) TCP/IP
7 9 (0.86%) Wireless
8 7 (0.67%) Modbus
8 7 (0.67%) MQTT
9 6 (0.57%) LAN
9 6 (0.57%) NAS
10 5 (0.48%) Cisco IOS
10 5 (0.48%) WAAS
11 4 (0.38%) Ethernet
11 4 (0.38%) SMTP
11 4 (0.38%) VoIP
11 4 (0.38%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 99 (9.43%) Power BI
2 43 (4.10%) Tableau
3 41 (3.90%) SQL Server
4 28 (2.67%) Data Warehouse
4 28 (2.67%) Metadata
4 28 (2.67%) Relational Database
5 25 (2.38%) PostgreSQL
6 15 (1.43%) Oracle Reports
6 15 (1.43%) Spark SQL
7 14 (1.33%) Azure SQL Database
8 13 (1.24%) Apache Hive
8 13 (1.24%) Impala
8 13 (1.24%) MySQL
8 13 (1.24%) Oracle Database
8 13 (1.24%) Parquet
8 13 (1.24%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 12 (1.14%) Pinecone
10 10 (0.95%) Amazon Redshift
10 10 (0.95%) Data Lake
10 10 (0.95%) Spotfire
Development Applications
1 60 (5.71%) Git
2 50 (4.76%) JIRA
3 34 (3.24%) Rational DOORS
4 18 (1.71%) Jenkins
5 17 (1.62%) Postman
6 14 (1.33%) Cucumber
6 14 (1.33%) GitLab
6 14 (1.33%) LabVIEW
6 14 (1.33%) MLflow
7 13 (1.24%) IBM UrbanCode
7 13 (1.24%) JMeter
7 13 (1.24%) Selenium
8 11 (1.05%) Eclipse
9 10 (0.95%) TestRail
10 8 (0.76%) Locust
11 7 (0.67%) SoapUI
12 6 (0.57%) LoadRunner
12 6 (0.57%) Subversion
13 5 (0.48%) SpecFlow
14 4 (0.38%) Zephyr
General
1 362 (34.48%) Social Skills
2 260 (24.76%) Finance
3 251 (23.90%) Analytical Skills
4 83 (7.90%) Banking
5 65 (6.19%) Electronics
6 63 (6.00%) Manufacturing
7 55 (5.24%) Aerospace
8 43 (4.10%) Law
8 43 (4.10%) Legal
8 43 (4.10%) Marketing
9 40 (3.81%) Financial Institution
9 40 (3.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 37 (3.52%) Retail
11 31 (2.95%) Presentation Skills
12 28 (2.67%) Public Sector
13 26 (2.48%) Organisational Skills
14 23 (2.19%) Documentation Skills
14 23 (2.19%) Telecoms
15 22 (2.10%) Pharmaceutical
16 20 (1.90%) Games
Job Titles
1 185 (17.62%) Analyst
2 165 (15.71%) Senior
3 130 (12.38%) Systems Engineer
4 79 (7.52%) Lead
5 69 (6.57%) Validation Engineer
6 67 (6.38%) Test Engineer
7 61 (5.81%) Business Analyst
8 53 (5.05%) Architect
9 49 (4.67%) Data Analyst
9 49 (4.67%) Integration Engineer
10 40 (3.81%) Principal Engineer
11 39 (3.71%) Systems Integration Engineer
12 38 (3.62%) Developer
13 37 (3.52%) Data Engineer
14 36 (3.43%) Senior Systems Engineer
15 34 (3.24%) Junior
16 32 (3.05%) Software Validation Engineer
16 32 (3.05%) Verification Engineer
17 29 (2.76%) Principal Systems Engineer
18 28 (2.67%) Auditor
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (5.14%) REST
2 37 (3.52%) Pandas
3 30 (2.86%) JSON
4 26 (2.48%) Middleware
4 26 (2.48%) pytest
5 24 (2.29%) XML
6 19 (1.81%) OAuth
6 19 (1.81%) PySpark
7 18 (1.71%) JWT
7 18 (1.71%) NumPy
7 18 (1.71%) PyTorch
7 18 (1.71%) Swagger
7 18 (1.71%) TensorFlow
8 16 (1.52%) RESTful
9 15 (1.43%) React
9 15 (1.43%) scikit-learn
9 15 (1.43%) Web Services
10 14 (1.33%) .NET
10 14 (1.33%) CSS
10 14 (1.33%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 71 (6.76%) Management Information System
2 51 (4.86%) Onboarding
3 41 (3.90%) Data Structures
4 36 (3.43%) Low-Code
5 31 (2.95%) Legacy Systems
6 29 (2.76%) Product Ownership
6 29 (2.76%) Self-Motivation
7 24 (2.29%) Analytical Mindset
7 24 (2.29%) Life Science
8 19 (1.81%) Enterprise Software
9 15 (1.43%) Robotics
10 14 (1.33%) Blockchain
11 13 (1.24%) Algorithms
11 13 (1.24%) Embedded Systems
11 13 (1.24%) IoT
11 13 (1.24%) Reinsurance
12 11 (1.05%) Hackathon
12 11 (1.05%) Self-Driving Car
13 10 (0.95%) Data Centre
14 8 (0.76%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 52 (4.95%) Linux
2 43 (4.10%) Windows
3 17 (1.62%) Unix
4 13 (1.24%) Windows Server
5 10 (0.95%) Android
6 6 (0.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 4 (0.38%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.29%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.19%) AIX
9 2 (0.19%) FreeRTOS
9 2 (0.19%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.19%) VxWorks
10 1 (0.095%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.095%) Kali Linux
10 1 (0.095%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 231 (22.00%) Agile
2 228 (21.71%) Problem-Solving
3 186 (17.71%) Verification and Validation
4 182 (17.33%) Continuous Improvement
5 158 (15.05%) Analytics
6 148 (14.10%) Data Validation
7 132 (12.57%) Test Automation
8 126 (12.00%) Business Intelligence
9 121 (11.52%) AI
9 121 (11.52%) CI/CD
10 117 (11.14%) Systems Engineering
11 110 (10.48%) Data Modelling
12 108 (10.29%) DevOps
13 105 (10.00%) Decision-Making
14 103 (9.81%) Migration
15 100 (9.52%) ETL
15 100 (9.52%) Mentoring
16 98 (9.33%) Stakeholder Management
17 96 (9.14%) Data Governance
18 95 (9.05%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 238 (22.67%) SQL
2 220 (20.95%) Python
3 44 (4.19%) Java
4 30 (2.86%) JavaScript
5 29 (2.76%) C++
6 28 (2.67%) PowerShell
7 27 (2.57%) C
8 21 (2.00%) Bash
9 19 (1.81%) T-SQL
10 17 (1.62%) Go
11 15 (1.43%) C#
11 15 (1.43%) MATLAB
12 14 (1.33%) TypeScript
13 11 (1.05%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 9 (0.86%) R
14 9 (0.86%) VBA
15 7 (0.67%) VB
16 6 (0.57%) PHP
17 5 (0.48%) Embedded C
17 5 (0.48%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 234 (22.29%) Degree
2 129 (12.29%) Security Cleared
3 113 (10.76%) BPSS Clearance
4 53 (5.05%) Master's Degree
5 49 (4.67%) SC Cleared
6 36 (3.43%) Computer Science Degree
7 32 (3.05%) CISA
7 32 (3.05%) CISSP
8 31 (2.95%) CISM
9 28 (2.67%) DV Cleared
10 25 (2.38%) CGEIT
10 25 (2.38%) FFIEC
10 25 (2.38%) SANS
11 23 (2.19%) Chartered Engineer
12 20 (1.90%) HNC
13 17 (1.62%) ISTQB
14 15 (1.43%) HND
14 15 (1.43%) PMI Certification
14 15 (1.43%) PMP
15 8 (0.76%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 149 (14.19%) Data Quality
2 113 (10.76%) QA
3 59 (5.62%) GDPR
4 43 (4.10%) Accessibility
5 37 (3.52%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 26 (2.48%) NIST
7 25 (2.38%) COBIT
8 18 (1.71%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 18 (1.71%) SLA
9 16 (1.52%) IFRS
10 13 (1.24%) WCAG
11 11 (1.05%) GRC
11 11 (1.05%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 10 (0.95%) GAAP
12 10 (0.95%) Good Clinical Practice
13 9 (0.86%) ISO 9001
14 7 (0.67%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 7 (0.67%) GxP
14 7 (0.67%) ISO 20022
15 6 (0.57%) PMO
System Software
1 58 (5.52%) Docker
2 22 (2.10%) Active Directory
3 21 (2.00%) Firmware
4 9 (0.86%) vSphere
5 8 (0.76%) VMware Infrastructure
6 5 (0.48%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.29%) VMware ESXi
8 2 (0.19%) Ceph
8 2 (0.19%) Embedded Firmware
8 2 (0.19%) Lustre
8 2 (0.19%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 2 (0.19%) Terminal Services
9 1 (0.095%) iptables
9 1 (0.095%) OpenAM
9 1 (0.095%) OpenDJ
9 1 (0.095%) OpenIDM
9 1 (0.095%) pfSense
9 1 (0.095%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 55 (5.24%) Kubernetes
2 41 (3.90%) Terraform
3 24 (2.29%) Grafana
4 17 (1.62%) Ansible
5 14 (1.33%) Prometheus
6 12 (1.14%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 10 (0.95%) SCCM
8 7 (0.67%) Microsoft Intune
9 5 (0.48%) Argo
9 5 (0.48%) Functional Safety
9 5 (0.48%) Rancher
9 5 (0.48%) yum
10 2 (0.19%) BMC PATROL
10 2 (0.19%) Nessus
10 2 (0.19%) PowerCLI
10 2 (0.19%) Puppet
11 1 (0.095%) Control-M
11 1 (0.095%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.095%) Kibana
11 1 (0.095%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 142 (13.52%) Microsoft
2 54 (5.14%) Oracle
3 49 (4.67%) SAP
4 36 (3.43%) Salesforce
5 19 (1.81%) Red Hat
6 17 (1.62%) Databricks
7 16 (1.52%) Adobe
7 16 (1.52%) Cisco
7 16 (1.52%) Foundry
7 16 (1.52%) ServiceNow
7 16 (1.52%) VMware
8 13 (1.24%) IBM
8 13 (1.24%) OpenAI
9 12 (1.14%) Automation Anywhere
9 12 (1.14%) Google
9 12 (1.14%) UiPath
10 11 (1.05%) Software AG
11 10 (0.95%) Citrix
11 10 (0.95%) Workday
12 9 (0.86%) Intapp