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 24 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 117 78 199
Rank change year-on-year -39 +121 -16
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,390 1,519 1,292
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.64% 3.79% 1.37%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.24% 4.10% 1.67%
Number of salaries quoted 863 427 709
10th Percentile £35,250 £40,000 £35,700
25th Percentile £43,250 £46,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.51% +3.64% -12.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £72,500 £72,433
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -11.41%

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 62,060 37,011 77,392
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.39% 92.32% 81.92%
Number of salaries quoted 43,762 20,363 56,096
10th Percentile £30,750 £28,822 £29,444
25th Percentile £41,250 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £78,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.54%

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 24 June 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 24 June 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 +68 392 £77,500 +3.33% 309
South East -38 316 £55,000 - 243
North of England +88 283 £55,000 +15.35% 130
North West +74 181 £55,000 +15.35% 66
Midlands -76 162 £42,500 -22.73% 107
East of England -75 109 £60,000 +5.26% 66
South West -50 105 £53,000 -3.64% 93
West Midlands +2 95 £44,000 -29.60% 55
East Midlands -80 65 £30,000 -36.84% 52
Yorkshire -9 59 £50,000 +18.69% 40
North East -6 43 £55,000 +15.79% 25
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 52 (3.74%) Apache Airflow
2 48 (3.45%) Apache Spark
3 46 (3.31%) Apache
4 22 (1.58%) Confluence
5 18 (1.29%) SharePoint
6 14 (1.01%) Microsoft Exchange
7 12 (0.86%) Jupyter
8 10 (0.72%) SAS
9 6 (0.43%) Appian
10 5 (0.36%) Adobe Experience Manager
11 4 (0.29%) CMS
11 4 (0.29%) Kinematics
12 3 (0.22%) Artix
13 2 (0.14%) IIS
14 1 (0.072%) ArcGIS
14 1 (0.072%) Oracle Workflow
14 1 (0.072%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 81 (5.83%) Microsoft Excel
2 39 (2.81%) Microsoft Office
3 24 (1.73%) Microsoft Project
4 19 (1.37%) MS Visio
5 15 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 15 (1.08%) Simulink
6 8 (0.58%) SOLIDWORKS
6 8 (0.58%) Spreadsheet
7 5 (0.36%) AutoCAD
8 4 (0.29%) Adobe XD
8 4 (0.29%) Sketch
9 3 (0.22%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 3 (0.22%) Autodesk Inventor
9 3 (0.22%) Productboard
9 3 (0.22%) Solid Edge
9 3 (0.22%) Stateflow
10 1 (0.072%) CATIA
10 1 (0.072%) Chatbot
10 1 (0.072%) Revit
10 1 (0.072%) Trello
Business Applications
1 39 (2.81%) Dynamics CRM
2 35 (2.52%) SAP S/4HANA
3 11 (0.79%) SAP MDG
4 10 (0.72%) SAP ERP
5 8 (0.58%) Oracle EBS
6 5 (0.36%) iTrent
6 5 (0.36%) Loan IQ
6 5 (0.36%) Oracle Financials
6 5 (0.36%) SAP MDG-BP
7 4 (0.29%) Oracle Applications
8 2 (0.14%) FastStats
8 2 (0.14%) NetSuite
8 2 (0.14%) Oracle ERP
8 2 (0.14%) Oracle Payables
8 2 (0.14%) Oracle Receivables
8 2 (0.14%) SAP Business One
8 2 (0.14%) SAP EWM
8 2 (0.14%) SAP MM
8 2 (0.14%) SAP WM
9 1 (0.072%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
Cloud Services
1 180 (12.95%) Azure
2 156 (11.22%) AWS
3 133 (9.57%) Power Platform
4 76 (5.47%) GCP
5 67 (4.82%) SaaS
6 55 (3.96%) Azure DevOps
7 39 (2.81%) Microsoft 365
7 39 (2.81%) Serverless
8 38 (2.73%) Amazon S3
9 35 (2.52%) GitHub
10 29 (2.09%) Dynamics 365
11 26 (1.87%) Azure Data Factory
12 23 (1.65%) Snowflake
13 19 (1.37%) Entra ID
14 18 (1.29%) GitHub Actions
14 18 (1.29%) Power Automate
15 16 (1.15%) Amazon EMR
15 16 (1.15%) dbt
16 15 (1.08%) Amazon EC2
17 14 (1.01%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 67 (4.82%) Broadband
2 41 (2.95%) Firewall
3 34 (2.45%) DNS
4 19 (1.37%) CHAP
4 19 (1.37%) WAN
5 17 (1.22%) Wireless
6 16 (1.15%) Network Security
6 16 (1.15%) TCP/IP
7 15 (1.08%) SD-WAN
8 14 (1.01%) VPN
9 12 (0.86%) 5G
9 12 (0.86%) Wi-Fi
10 11 (0.79%) HTTP
10 11 (0.79%) MQTT
11 10 (0.72%) Ethernet
11 10 (0.72%) LAN
12 9 (0.65%) NAS
13 7 (0.50%) WebEx
14 6 (0.43%) Cisco ISE
15 5 (0.36%) Bluetooth
Database & Business Intelligence
1 131 (9.42%) Power BI
2 55 (3.96%) PostgreSQL
2 55 (3.96%) Tableau
3 50 (3.60%) SQL Server
4 46 (3.31%) Data Warehouse
5 33 (2.37%) MongoDB
6 31 (2.23%) Metadata
7 30 (2.16%) Relational Database
8 27 (1.94%) BigQuery
9 24 (1.73%) Data Lake
10 23 (1.65%) Azure SQL Database
11 20 (1.44%) Semantic Layer
12 19 (1.37%) Spark SQL
13 18 (1.29%) Amazon Athena
14 17 (1.22%) DynamoDB
14 17 (1.22%) Oracle Database
15 16 (1.15%) MySQL
15 16 (1.15%) Parquet
16 14 (1.01%) SQL Server Reporting Services
17 13 (0.94%) Impala
Development Applications
1 73 (5.25%) JIRA
2 66 (4.75%) Git
3 45 (3.24%) Jenkins
4 35 (2.52%) GitLab
5 30 (2.16%) Rational DOORS
6 22 (1.58%) Snyk
7 15 (1.08%) Postman
7 15 (1.08%) Selenium
8 13 (0.94%) IBM UrbanCode
8 13 (0.94%) LabVIEW
9 10 (0.72%) Cucumber
9 10 (0.72%) Cypress.io
9 10 (0.72%) MLflow
9 10 (0.72%) TeamCity
10 9 (0.65%) Eclipse
10 9 (0.65%) JMeter
11 7 (0.50%) Rational Rhapsody
12 5 (0.36%) LoadRunner
12 5 (0.36%) REST Assured
12 5 (0.36%) SonarQube
General
1 420 (30.22%) Social Skills
2 364 (26.19%) Finance
3 323 (23.24%) Analytical Skills
4 106 (7.63%) Aerospace
5 98 (7.05%) Electronics
6 95 (6.83%) Manufacturing
7 93 (6.69%) Banking
8 84 (6.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 53 (3.81%) Law
9 53 (3.81%) Retail
10 45 (3.24%) Public Sector
11 44 (3.17%) Legal
12 42 (3.02%) Marketing
13 41 (2.95%) Games
14 38 (2.73%) Pharmaceutical
15 36 (2.59%) Organisational Skills
16 32 (2.30%) Automotive
16 32 (2.30%) Financial Institution
17 22 (1.58%) Documentation Skills
17 22 (1.58%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 238 (17.12%) Senior
2 224 (16.12%) Analyst
3 128 (9.21%) Systems Engineer
4 104 (7.48%) Lead
5 95 (6.83%) Test Engineer
6 94 (6.76%) Architect
7 84 (6.04%) Validation Engineer
8 75 (5.40%) Data Engineer
9 74 (5.32%) Business Analyst
10 64 (4.60%) Data Analyst
10 64 (4.60%) Developer
11 44 (3.17%) Principal Engineer
12 39 (2.81%) Embedded Engineer
13 37 (2.66%) Integration Engineer
13 37 (2.66%) Support Engineer
14 36 (2.59%) Consultant
14 36 (2.59%) IT Manager
15 35 (2.52%) Security Architect
16 34 (2.45%) Project Manager
17 32 (2.30%) Senior Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (3.09%) RESTful
2 34 (2.45%) REST
3 33 (2.37%) PySpark
4 32 (2.30%) JSON
5 30 (2.16%) Kafka
6 29 (2.09%) Node.js
7 27 (1.94%) XML
8 26 (1.87%) Pandas
9 24 (1.73%) Middleware
10 22 (1.58%) pytest
11 21 (1.51%) .NET
12 19 (1.37%) Playwright
12 19 (1.37%) Swagger
13 18 (1.29%) Regular Expression
13 18 (1.29%) XMPP
14 15 (1.08%) CSS
14 15 (1.08%) LDAP
15 14 (1.01%) HTML
15 14 (1.01%) OAuth
15 14 (1.01%) PyTorch
Miscellaneous
1 88 (6.33%) Cloud Native
2 70 (5.04%) Onboarding
3 64 (4.60%) Data Structures
4 62 (4.46%) Management Information System
5 49 (3.53%) Low-Code
6 39 (2.81%) Driving Licence
7 38 (2.73%) Algorithms
7 38 (2.73%) Embedded Systems
7 38 (2.73%) Product Ownership
8 33 (2.37%) Data Centre
8 33 (2.37%) Distributed Systems
8 33 (2.37%) Enterprise Software
8 33 (2.37%) Self-Motivation
9 32 (2.30%) Analytical Mindset
10 31 (2.23%) Legacy Systems
10 31 (2.23%) Video\Live Streaming
11 28 (2.01%) Life Science
12 22 (1.58%) Robotics
13 19 (1.37%) PKI
14 18 (1.29%) FPGA
Operating Systems
1 89 (6.40%) Linux
2 63 (4.53%) Windows
3 26 (1.87%) Windows Server
4 23 (1.65%) Unix
5 18 (1.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (0.43%) Android
7 4 (0.29%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.29%) Kali Linux
7 4 (0.29%) Mac OS X
8 3 (0.22%) AIX
8 3 (0.22%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.22%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.14%) Embedded Linux
9 2 (0.14%) ThreadX
10 1 (0.072%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 311 (22.37%) Problem-Solving
2 284 (20.43%) Agile
3 270 (19.42%) Continuous Improvement
4 241 (17.34%) AI
5 237 (17.05%) CI/CD
6 201 (14.46%) Test Automation
7 190 (13.67%) Analytics
8 180 (12.95%) Verification and Validation
9 163 (11.73%) Data Validation
10 156 (11.22%) Migration
11 155 (11.15%) Business Intelligence
12 152 (10.94%) DevOps
13 151 (10.86%) Data Modelling
14 141 (10.14%) Decision-Making
15 139 (10.00%) Software Engineering
16 137 (9.86%) Stakeholder Management
17 132 (9.50%) Data Governance
18 129 (9.28%) Mentoring
19 125 (8.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
20 121 (8.71%) Machine Learning
Programming Languages
1 339 (24.39%) Python
2 305 (21.94%) SQL
3 65 (4.68%) C++
4 60 (4.32%) C
5 56 (4.03%) Java
6 49 (3.53%) Go
7 38 (2.73%) C#
8 33 (2.37%) JavaScript
9 27 (1.94%) MATLAB
10 24 (1.73%) Bash
11 23 (1.65%) PowerShell
11 23 (1.65%) T-SQL
12 18 (1.29%) Embedded C++
13 17 (1.22%) Embedded C
14 15 (1.08%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 14 (1.01%) Scala
16 12 (0.86%) TypeScript
17 9 (0.65%) VBA
18 8 (0.58%) ABAP
19 7 (0.50%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 263 (18.92%) Degree
2 159 (11.44%) Security Cleared
3 101 (7.27%) BPSS Clearance
4 75 (5.40%) SC Cleared
5 74 (5.32%) Master's Degree
6 45 (3.24%) DV Cleared
7 37 (2.66%) Computer Science Degree
8 34 (2.45%) Chartered Engineer
9 29 (2.09%) CISA
9 29 (2.09%) CISSP
9 29 (2.09%) SANS
10 26 (1.87%) CISM
11 25 (1.80%) HNC
12 19 (1.37%) CGEIT
12 19 (1.37%) FFIEC
12 19 (1.37%) HND
13 17 (1.22%) ACCA
13 17 (1.22%) CIMA
14 15 (1.08%) PMI Certification
15 12 (0.86%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 243 (17.48%) Data Quality
2 149 (10.72%) QA
3 53 (3.81%) GDPR
4 40 (2.88%) Accessibility
5 37 (2.66%) GRC
6 26 (1.87%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 23 (1.65%) NIST
8 22 (1.58%) ISO/IEC 15288
9 19 (1.37%) COBIT
10 18 (1.29%) IEC 61508
10 18 (1.29%) IFRS
11 16 (1.15%) PMO
12 13 (0.94%) GAAP
12 13 (0.94%) ISO 9001
12 13 (0.94%) SLA
13 11 (0.79%) ISO 26262
13 11 (0.79%) SOC 2
14 9 (0.65%) GMP
14 9 (0.65%) GxP
15 8 (0.58%) WCAG
System Software
1 65 (4.68%) Docker
2 41 (2.95%) Firmware
3 37 (2.66%) Active Directory
4 22 (1.58%) Virtual Machines
5 19 (1.37%) Embedded Firmware
5 19 (1.37%) vSphere
6 8 (0.58%) VMware Infrastructure
7 5 (0.36%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.14%) Terminal Services
9 1 (0.072%) OpenAM
9 1 (0.072%) OpenDJ
9 1 (0.072%) OpenIDM
9 1 (0.072%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 64 (4.60%) Kubernetes
2 63 (4.53%) Terraform
3 27 (1.94%) Grafana
4 23 (1.65%) Functional Safety
5 15 (1.08%) Prometheus
6 13 (0.94%) Ansible
7 10 (0.72%) Cilium
8 8 (0.58%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
9 7 (0.50%) Kibana
9 7 (0.50%) SCCM
10 4 (0.29%) Puppet
11 3 (0.22%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.22%) HP Fortify
12 2 (0.14%) Argo
12 2 (0.14%) BMC PATROL
12 2 (0.14%) Computer Incident Response Team
12 2 (0.14%) Microsoft Intune
12 2 (0.14%) Rancher
12 2 (0.14%) yum
13 1 (0.072%) MOM
Vendors
1 180 (12.95%) Microsoft
2 86 (6.19%) SAP
3 84 (6.04%) Oracle
4 48 (3.45%) Salesforce
5 38 (2.73%) Databricks
6 33 (2.37%) ServiceNow
7 32 (2.30%) Red Hat
8 29 (2.09%) CrowdStrike
9 26 (1.87%) VMware
10 22 (1.58%) Palo Alto
10 22 (1.58%) Tenable
11 21 (1.51%) Google
12 20 (1.44%) Adobe
13 19 (1.37%) Cisco
14 14 (1.01%) Citrix
14 14 (1.01%) McAfee
15 13 (0.94%) Foundry
16 10 (0.72%) OpenAI
17 9 (0.65%) IBM
18 8 (0.58%) Splunk