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 4 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 158 173 204
Rank change year-on-year +15 +31 -71
Permanent jobs citing Validation 786 960 753
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.65% 1.69% 1.69%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.96% 1.95% 1.81%
Number of salaries quoted 435 368 459
10th Percentile £36,250 £36,250 £36,750
25th Percentile £41,250 £45,000 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £62,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -12.00% +4.17%
75th Percentile £80,000 £72,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £96,625 £93,750
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -

All Process and 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 40,074 49,232 41,661
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 83.94% 86.64% 93.61%
Number of salaries quoted 25,111 25,640 32,120
10th Percentile £28,250 £35,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £45,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £81,250
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £100,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -

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 4 December 2025.

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 4 December 2025. 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 +29 249 £80,000 +18.52% 140
South East +13 194 £50,750 -15.42% 250
North of England -14 122 £52,750 +15.93% 119
Midlands +52 80 £42,500 -15.00% 94
North West 0 74 £52,750 +14.15% 81
South West +26 73 £50,000 -16.67% 100
East of England -12 58 £59,000 +7.27% 111
West Midlands +36 49 £42,500 -15.00% 65
Yorkshire -2 35 £60,000 +50.00% 28
East Midlands +29 31 £42,500 -10.53% 28
North East +9 13 £35,000 -26.70% 11
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 21 (2.67%) Apache Airflow
2 18 (2.29%) Confluence
3 17 (2.16%) Apache Spark
4 10 (1.27%) Apache
4 10 (1.27%) SugarCRM
5 8 (1.02%) CMS
5 8 (1.02%) SharePoint
6 5 (0.64%) SAS
7 4 (0.51%) Appian
7 4 (0.51%) Headless CMS
7 4 (0.51%) Microsoft Exchange
8 3 (0.38%) Jupyter
9 2 (0.25%) WordPress
10 1 (0.13%) Apache Superset
10 1 (0.13%) FileNet
10 1 (0.13%) Luigi
Applications
1 49 (6.23%) Microsoft Excel
2 44 (5.60%) Microsoft Office
3 16 (2.04%) MS Visio
3 16 (2.04%) Simulink
4 8 (1.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.51%) Mathcad
6 3 (0.38%) Adobe Illustrator
6 3 (0.38%) Oracle Smart View
6 3 (0.38%) Photoshop
7 2 (0.25%) Adobe After Effects
7 2 (0.25%) Adobe Captivate
7 2 (0.25%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 2 (0.25%) Adobe Premiere
7 2 (0.25%) AutoCAD
7 2 (0.25%) Elementor
7 2 (0.25%) Revit
7 2 (0.25%) Weka
8 1 (0.13%) CANalyzer
8 1 (0.13%) Fusion 360
8 1 (0.13%) OrCAD
Business Applications
1 26 (3.31%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.64%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 4 (0.51%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.51%) Oracle ERP
3 4 (0.51%) SAP BPC
4 3 (0.38%) Oracle Assets
4 3 (0.38%) Oracle Cash Management
4 3 (0.38%) Oracle General Ledger
4 3 (0.38%) Oracle Payables
4 3 (0.38%) Oracle Receivables
4 3 (0.38%) SAP CX
4 3 (0.38%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.25%) Aladdin
5 2 (0.25%) Endur
5 2 (0.25%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 2 (0.25%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.25%) Primavera
5 2 (0.25%) SAP ERP
5 2 (0.25%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Financials
Cloud Services
1 113 (14.38%) Azure
2 75 (9.54%) Power Platform
3 71 (9.03%) AWS
4 38 (4.83%) SaaS
5 25 (3.18%) GCP
6 24 (3.05%) Azure DevOps
7 16 (2.04%) GitHub
8 15 (1.91%) Dynamics 365
8 15 (1.91%) Snowflake
9 14 (1.78%) Amazon S3
10 13 (1.65%) Serverless
11 12 (1.53%) dbt
11 12 (1.53%) Power Automate
12 11 (1.40%) AWS Lambda
13 10 (1.27%) Azure Data Factory
13 10 (1.27%) Datadog
14 9 (1.15%) Microsoft 365
15 8 (1.02%) Amazon SageMaker
15 8 (1.02%) AWS CloudFormation
15 8 (1.02%) AWS Step Functions
Communications & Networking
1 17 (2.16%) LAN
2 12 (1.53%) Firewall
3 10 (1.27%) DNS
4 9 (1.15%) Ethernet
4 9 (1.15%) Modbus
4 9 (1.15%) TCP/IP
5 6 (0.76%) CHAP
5 6 (0.76%) Ethernet VPN
5 6 (0.76%) HTTP
5 6 (0.76%) WAN
6 5 (0.64%) BGP
6 5 (0.64%) DHCP
6 5 (0.64%) MQTT
6 5 (0.64%) Network Security
6 5 (0.64%) NX-OS
6 5 (0.64%) OSPF
6 5 (0.64%) Profibus
6 5 (0.64%) SMTP
7 4 (0.51%) 5G
7 4 (0.51%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (8.78%) Power BI
2 35 (4.45%) Tableau
3 30 (3.82%) Data Warehouse
4 26 (3.31%) SQL Server
5 21 (2.67%) BigQuery
5 21 (2.67%) Metadata
6 17 (2.16%) Relational Database
7 13 (1.65%) Big Data
8 12 (1.53%) Data Lake
9 11 (1.40%) NoSQL
10 9 (1.15%) PostgreSQL
11 8 (1.02%) Amazon Redshift
12 7 (0.89%) Looker
13 6 (0.76%) Amazon Athena
13 6 (0.76%) Amazon Aurora
13 6 (0.76%) BusinessObjects
13 6 (0.76%) GIS
13 6 (0.76%) MySQL
13 6 (0.76%) Oracle Reports
13 6 (0.76%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 65 (8.27%) JIRA
2 43 (5.47%) Git
3 33 (4.20%) Rational DOORS
4 21 (2.67%) Jenkins
5 18 (2.29%) Postman
6 15 (1.91%) Selenium
7 12 (1.53%) GitLab
8 10 (1.27%) SoapUI
9 9 (1.15%) Cucumber
9 9 (1.15%) JMeter
9 9 (1.15%) MLflow
10 8 (1.02%) TestRail
11 7 (0.89%) LoadRunner
12 5 (0.64%) TestNG
12 5 (0.64%) Zephyr
13 4 (0.51%) Browser DevTools
13 4 (0.51%) Cypress.io
13 4 (0.51%) Locust
13 4 (0.51%) SonarQube
13 4 (0.51%) WebDriver
General
1 305 (38.80%) Social Skills
2 226 (28.75%) Finance
3 163 (20.74%) Analytical Skills
4 53 (6.74%) Law
5 48 (6.11%) Documentation Skills
5 48 (6.11%) Manufacturing
5 48 (6.11%) Marketing
6 44 (5.60%) Banking
7 43 (5.47%) Electronics
8 36 (4.58%) Presentation Skills
9 33 (4.20%) Organisational Skills
10 31 (3.94%) Financial Institution
10 31 (3.94%) Retail
11 28 (3.56%) Telecoms
12 27 (3.44%) Aerospace
12 27 (3.44%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 25 (3.18%) Influencing Skills
14 24 (3.05%) Public Sector
15 20 (2.54%) Billing
15 20 (2.54%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 112 (14.25%) Analyst
1 112 (14.25%) Senior
2 91 (11.58%) Lead
3 61 (7.76%) Systems Engineer
4 42 (5.34%) Data Analyst
5 38 (4.83%) Architect
6 33 (4.20%) Business Analyst
6 33 (4.20%) Data Engineer
7 31 (3.94%) Test Engineer
8 28 (3.56%) Applications Engineer
8 28 (3.56%) Support Engineer
9 27 (3.44%) Applications Support
10 26 (3.31%) Principal Engineer
11 25 (3.18%) Developer
12 23 (2.93%) Administrator
12 23 (2.93%) Team Leader
13 22 (2.80%) Applications Support Engineer
13 22 (2.80%) Data Quality Analyst
13 22 (2.80%) Quality Analyst
14 19 (2.42%) Validation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (4.07%) REST
2 24 (3.05%) Middleware
3 19 (2.42%) JSON
3 19 (2.42%) scikit-learn
3 19 (2.42%) XML
4 18 (2.29%) Pandas
5 17 (2.16%) TensorFlow
6 16 (2.04%) PyTorch
7 13 (1.65%) Kafka
7 13 (1.65%) React
8 11 (1.40%) HTML
9 10 (1.27%) pytest
10 9 (1.15%) NumPy
10 9 (1.15%) Playwright
10 9 (1.15%) Web Services
11 8 (1.02%) CSS
11 8 (1.02%) FastAPI
11 8 (1.02%) Hugging Face
11 8 (1.02%) PySpark
12 7 (0.89%) Flask
Miscellaneous
1 69 (8.78%) Management Information System
2 38 (4.83%) Onboarding
3 37 (4.71%) Life Science
4 30 (3.82%) Self-Motivation
5 27 (3.44%) Operational Technology
5 27 (3.44%) Product Ownership
6 23 (2.93%) Algorithms
7 17 (2.16%) SCADA
8 16 (2.04%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 14 (1.78%) Data Structures
10 13 (1.65%) Analytical Mindset
11 11 (1.40%) Credit Risk
11 11 (1.40%) Legacy Systems
11 11 (1.40%) SWIFT Messaging Network
12 10 (1.27%) Data Centre
12 10 (1.27%) Low-Code
13 9 (1.15%) IoT
14 8 (1.02%) Enterprise Software
14 8 (1.02%) Virtual Team
15 7 (0.89%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 37 (4.71%) Windows
2 36 (4.58%) Linux
3 15 (1.91%) Windows Server
4 7 (0.89%) Windows Server 2016
5 5 (0.64%) Windows 10
5 5 (0.64%) Windows Server 2019
6 4 (0.51%) Unix
7 2 (0.25%) Android
7 2 (0.25%) FreeRTOS
7 2 (0.25%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.13%) AIX
8 1 (0.13%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.13%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 200 (25.45%) Agile
2 185 (23.54%) Problem-Solving
3 118 (15.01%) Data Validation
4 114 (14.50%) Verification and Validation
5 111 (14.12%) Migration
6 106 (13.49%) Analytics
7 96 (12.21%) Continuous Improvement
8 84 (10.69%) Decision-Making
8 84 (10.69%) Software Engineering
9 82 (10.43%) Test Automation
10 81 (10.31%) Mentoring
11 80 (10.18%) ETL
12 79 (10.05%) Data Analysis
13 78 (9.92%) Business Intelligence
14 74 (9.41%) DevOps
14 74 (9.41%) Stakeholder Management
14 74 (9.41%) Systems Engineering
15 72 (9.16%) Data Management
15 72 (9.16%) Roadmaps
16 71 (9.03%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 167 (21.25%) SQL
2 159 (20.23%) Python
3 32 (4.07%) Java
4 27 (3.44%) C
5 24 (3.05%) C++
5 24 (3.05%) MATLAB
6 20 (2.54%) JavaScript
7 17 (2.16%) PowerShell
8 12 (1.53%) R
8 12 (1.53%) TypeScript
9 11 (1.40%) Bash
10 10 (1.27%) T-SQL
11 7 (0.89%) C#
12 5 (0.64%) Ladder Logic
13 4 (0.51%) PL/SQL
14 3 (0.38%) Embedded C
14 3 (0.38%) GLSL
14 3 (0.38%) Google Apps Script
14 3 (0.38%) Tcl
14 3 (0.38%) VB
Qualifications
1 251 (31.93%) Degree
2 80 (10.18%) BPSS Clearance
2 80 (10.18%) Security Cleared
3 51 (6.49%) Master's Degree
4 43 (5.47%) SC Cleared
5 36 (4.58%) Computer Science Degree
6 26 (3.31%) Cisco Certification
7 20 (2.54%) HNC
8 16 (2.04%) DV Cleared
8 16 (2.04%) Microsoft Certification
9 14 (1.78%) CCNA
9 14 (1.78%) CCNP
10 13 (1.65%) ISTQB
11 12 (1.53%) CCIE
11 12 (1.53%) Numerate Degree
12 11 (1.40%) ACCA
13 10 (1.27%) Network+ Certification
14 9 (1.15%) CISA
15 8 (1.02%) CCSA
15 8 (1.02%) CCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 114 (14.50%) Data Quality
2 102 (12.98%) QA
3 39 (4.96%) GxP
4 32 (4.07%) SLA
5 24 (3.05%) GDPR
6 23 (2.93%) ISO/IEC 15288
7 22 (2.80%) Accessibility
8 11 (1.40%) ISO 20022
8 11 (1.40%) NIST
8 11 (1.40%) SEPA
9 9 (1.15%) ISO/IEC 12207
9 9 (1.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 8 (1.02%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 7 (0.89%) COBIT
11 7 (0.89%) TARGET2
12 6 (0.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
13 5 (0.64%) ARP4761
14 4 (0.51%) NCSC
14 4 (0.51%) PCI DSS
14 4 (0.51%) WCAG
System Software
1 38 (4.83%) Docker
2 31 (3.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (2.29%) Firmware
4 13 (1.65%) Active Directory
5 7 (0.89%) VMware ESXi
5 7 (0.89%) vSphere
6 6 (0.76%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (0.51%) vCloud
8 3 (0.38%) Embedded Firmware
9 2 (0.25%) Apache Flume
9 2 (0.25%) Ceph
9 2 (0.25%) HDFS
9 2 (0.25%) Lustre
9 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 2 (0.25%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 2 (0.25%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.13%) Hyper-V
10 1 (0.13%) iptables
10 1 (0.13%) pfSense
10 1 (0.13%) Postfix
Systems Management
1 28 (3.56%) Kubernetes
2 15 (1.91%) Ansible
2 15 (1.91%) Terraform
3 14 (1.78%) Grafana
4 8 (1.02%) Prometheus
5 5 (0.64%) Kubeflow
5 5 (0.64%) vCenter Server
6 4 (0.51%) Docker Swarm
6 4 (0.51%) Microsoft Intune
6 4 (0.51%) Rundeck
7 3 (0.38%) Kibana
8 2 (0.25%) Argo
8 2 (0.25%) Functional Safety
8 2 (0.25%) logstash
8 2 (0.25%) Nessus
8 2 (0.25%) Oozie
8 2 (0.25%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.25%) Rancher
8 2 (0.25%) yum
9 1 (0.13%) Puppet
Vendors
1 88 (11.20%) Microsoft
2 56 (7.12%) SAP
3 37 (4.71%) VMware
4 29 (3.69%) Cisco
5 21 (2.67%) Oracle
6 20 (2.54%) Salesforce
7 15 (1.91%) Foundry
8 13 (1.65%) CheckPoint
8 13 (1.65%) F5
8 13 (1.65%) IBM
9 9 (1.15%) Databricks
9 9 (1.15%) Software AG
10 8 (1.02%) Intapp
10 8 (1.02%) Siemens
11 6 (0.76%) Allen-Bradley
11 6 (0.76%) Arista
11 6 (0.76%) EMC
11 6 (0.76%) Informatica
11 6 (0.76%) Splunk
11 6 (0.76%) Workday