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

6 months to
4 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 144 182 176
Rank change year-on-year +38 -6 -26
Permanent jobs citing Validation 930 692 1,171
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.48% 1.69% 1.68%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.88% 1.81% 1.92%
Number of salaries quoted 505 290 718
10th Percentile £34,250 £37,375 £34,925
25th Percentile £45,000 £46,438 £42,813
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% +1.82% -8.33%
75th Percentile £78,750 £71,250 £73,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £97,750 £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 49,520 38,237 60,987
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 78.66% 93.33% 87.67%
Number of salaries quoted 30,395 19,819 47,936
10th Percentile £29,500 £32,750 £29,500
25th Percentile £39,959 £46,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £82,500 £75,000
90th Percentile £97,500 £103,750 £95,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -12.00%

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 March 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 4 March 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 +76 314 £75,000 +5.26% 257
South East +42 201 £53,500 +1.90% 254
North of England -5 133 £60,000 +26.32% 150
Midlands +1 113 £37,500 -30.23% 133
North West +17 92 £56,500 +18.49% 75
East of England +1 87 £58,750 +6.82% 111
South West -10 69 £60,000 +11.52% 103
West Midlands +11 68 £42,215 -35.05% 93
East Midlands -15 44 £35,000 -32.69% 39
Yorkshire -33 30 £65,000 +42.94% 53
North East -15 11 £46,999 +13.25% 23
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 37 (3.98%) Apache Airflow
2 27 (2.90%) Apache Spark
3 21 (2.26%) Apache
4 13 (1.40%) Microsoft Exchange
5 12 (1.29%) Appian
5 12 (1.29%) Confluence
6 10 (1.08%) CMS
6 10 (1.08%) SharePoint
7 4 (0.43%) Headless CMS
8 2 (0.22%) Kinematics
8 2 (0.22%) WordPress
9 1 (0.11%) Anypoint
9 1 (0.11%) FileNet
9 1 (0.11%) IIS
9 1 (0.11%) Jupyter
9 1 (0.11%) SAS
Applications
1 85 (9.14%) Microsoft Excel
2 50 (5.38%) Microsoft Office
3 18 (1.94%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 17 (1.83%) MS Visio
5 7 (0.75%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 4 (0.43%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.43%) Simulink
6 4 (0.43%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.22%) Adobe After Effects
7 2 (0.22%) Adobe Captivate
7 2 (0.22%) Adobe Illustrator
7 2 (0.22%) Adobe Premiere
7 2 (0.22%) Elementor
7 2 (0.22%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.22%) Oracle Smart View
7 2 (0.22%) Photoshop
7 2 (0.22%) Weka
8 1 (0.11%) GNU Octave
8 1 (0.11%) OrCAD
8 1 (0.11%) Revit
Business Applications
1 23 (2.47%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.18%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.43%) SAP BPC
3 4 (0.43%) SAP ERP
4 3 (0.32%) SAP CX
4 3 (0.32%) SAP MDG
4 3 (0.32%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.22%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 2 (0.22%) Loan IQ
5 2 (0.22%) Oracle ERP
5 2 (0.22%) Primavera
6 1 (0.11%) Endur
6 1 (0.11%) Magento
6 1 (0.11%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Financials
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.11%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.11%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.11%) SAP Business ByDesign
6 1 (0.11%) SAP FSCM
Cloud Services
1 134 (14.41%) Azure
2 86 (9.25%) Power Platform
3 68 (7.31%) AWS
4 49 (5.27%) SaaS
5 38 (4.09%) Azure DevOps
6 33 (3.55%) GCP
7 24 (2.58%) Amazon S3
8 23 (2.47%) Power Automate
9 22 (2.37%) Azure Data Factory
9 22 (2.37%) Snowflake
10 21 (2.26%) Dynamics 365
11 19 (2.04%) dbt
12 18 (1.94%) Entra ID
12 18 (1.94%) GitHub
13 15 (1.61%) Microsoft 365
14 12 (1.29%) Anthropic Claude
14 12 (1.29%) Azure AI
14 12 (1.29%) OpenShift
15 11 (1.18%) Serverless
16 10 (1.08%) Figma
Communications & Networking
1 22 (2.37%) CHAP
2 13 (1.40%) WAN
3 12 (1.29%) SD-WAN
4 11 (1.18%) 5G
5 10 (1.08%) Firewall
6 9 (0.97%) Broadband
6 9 (0.97%) TCP/IP
7 8 (0.86%) DNS
7 8 (0.86%) HTTP
7 8 (0.86%) MQTT
8 6 (0.65%) LAN
8 6 (0.65%) Modbus
9 5 (0.54%) Cisco IOS
9 5 (0.54%) VoIP
9 5 (0.54%) WAAS
9 5 (0.54%) Wireless
10 4 (0.43%) NAS
10 4 (0.43%) SMTP
11 3 (0.32%) Internet
11 3 (0.32%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 84 (9.03%) Power BI
2 41 (4.41%) SQL Server
3 32 (3.44%) Tableau
4 25 (2.69%) Metadata
4 25 (2.69%) Relational Database
5 24 (2.58%) Data Warehouse
6 14 (1.51%) PostgreSQL
7 13 (1.40%) Azure SQL Database
7 13 (1.40%) Oracle Reports
7 13 (1.40%) Spark SQL
8 12 (1.29%) Apache Hive
8 12 (1.29%) Impala
8 12 (1.29%) Oracle Database
8 12 (1.29%) Parquet
8 12 (1.29%) Pinecone
9 11 (1.18%) Data Lake
9 11 (1.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 10 (1.08%) Amazon Redshift
10 10 (1.08%) Spotfire
11 9 (0.97%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 52 (5.59%) Git
2 49 (5.27%) JIRA
3 37 (3.98%) Rational DOORS
4 18 (1.94%) Postman
5 17 (1.83%) Jenkins
6 15 (1.61%) GitLab
7 14 (1.51%) LabVIEW
7 14 (1.51%) MLflow
8 12 (1.29%) Cucumber
8 12 (1.29%) IBM UrbanCode
9 11 (1.18%) Eclipse
10 10 (1.08%) JMeter
10 10 (1.08%) TestRail
11 9 (0.97%) Selenium
12 8 (0.86%) SoapUI
13 6 (0.65%) LoadRunner
13 6 (0.65%) Locust
13 6 (0.65%) Subversion
14 5 (0.54%) SpecFlow
15 4 (0.43%) TestDirector
General
1 340 (36.56%) Social Skills
2 253 (27.20%) Finance
3 236 (25.38%) Analytical Skills
4 86 (9.25%) Banking
5 51 (5.48%) Financial Institution
6 46 (4.95%) Marketing
7 44 (4.73%) Manufacturing
8 40 (4.30%) Electronics
9 37 (3.98%) Law
10 36 (3.87%) Aerospace
10 36 (3.87%) Presentation Skills
11 32 (3.44%) Legal
12 30 (3.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 29 (3.12%) Organisational Skills
13 29 (3.12%) Telecoms
14 28 (3.01%) Retail
15 23 (2.47%) Public Sector
16 19 (2.04%) Billing
17 18 (1.94%) Documentation Skills
18 16 (1.72%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 162 (17.42%) Analyst
2 137 (14.73%) Senior
3 118 (12.69%) Systems Engineer
4 68 (7.31%) Lead
5 59 (6.34%) Architect
6 55 (5.91%) Business Analyst
7 53 (5.70%) Test Engineer
7 53 (5.70%) Validation Engineer
8 44 (4.73%) Integration Engineer
9 43 (4.62%) Data Analyst
10 35 (3.76%) Junior
10 35 (3.76%) Systems Integration Engineer
11 33 (3.55%) Principal Engineer
11 33 (3.55%) Senior Systems Engineer
12 32 (3.44%) Data Engineer
13 27 (2.90%) Verification Engineer
14 26 (2.80%) Principal Systems Engineer
14 26 (2.80%) Solutions Architect
15 25 (2.69%) Developer
16 24 (2.58%) Auditor
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (5.27%) REST
2 37 (3.98%) Pandas
3 26 (2.80%) JSON
3 26 (2.80%) Middleware
4 24 (2.58%) pytest
5 22 (2.37%) XML
6 19 (2.04%) PyTorch
6 19 (2.04%) TensorFlow
7 17 (1.83%) NumPy
7 17 (1.83%) OAuth
7 17 (1.83%) PySpark
8 16 (1.72%) JWT
8 16 (1.72%) scikit-learn
8 16 (1.72%) Swagger
8 16 (1.72%) Web Services
9 14 (1.51%) React
10 13 (1.40%) .NET
10 13 (1.40%) FastAPI
10 13 (1.40%) Hugging Face
10 13 (1.40%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 63 (6.77%) Management Information System
2 48 (5.16%) Onboarding
3 34 (3.66%) Data Structures
4 28 (3.01%) Self-Motivation
5 26 (2.80%) Legacy Systems
6 25 (2.69%) Low-Code
7 21 (2.26%) Life Science
7 21 (2.26%) Product Ownership
8 18 (1.94%) Analytical Mindset
8 18 (1.94%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 16 (1.72%) Enterprise Software
9 16 (1.72%) SWIFT Messaging Network
10 13 (1.40%) Blockchain
10 13 (1.40%) Reinsurance
11 11 (1.18%) Algorithms
11 11 (1.18%) Self-Driving Car
12 10 (1.08%) Data Centre
12 10 (1.08%) IoT
13 8 (0.86%) CMDB
13 8 (0.86%) e-Learning
Operating Systems
1 38 (4.09%) Linux
1 38 (4.09%) Windows
2 15 (1.61%) Unix
3 10 (1.08%) Android
4 6 (0.65%) Windows Server
5 4 (0.43%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.32%) Robot Operating System
7 2 (0.22%) AIX
7 2 (0.22%) Mac OS
7 2 (0.22%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 231 (24.84%) Agile
2 212 (22.80%) Problem-Solving
3 170 (18.28%) Verification and Validation
4 136 (14.62%) Data Validation
5 135 (14.52%) Analytics
6 132 (14.19%) Continuous Improvement
7 110 (11.83%) Test Automation
8 109 (11.72%) CI/CD
9 107 (11.51%) AI
10 105 (11.29%) Business Intelligence
11 104 (11.18%) Systems Engineering
12 102 (10.97%) DevOps
12 102 (10.97%) Migration
13 95 (10.22%) Decision-Making
14 94 (10.11%) Mentoring
15 93 (10.00%) ETL
16 91 (9.78%) User Acceptance Testing
17 89 (9.57%) Data Modelling
18 87 (9.35%) Roadmaps
18 87 (9.35%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 221 (23.76%) SQL
2 191 (20.54%) Python
3 39 (4.19%) Java
4 29 (3.12%) PowerShell
5 27 (2.90%) C
6 26 (2.80%) C++
7 25 (2.69%) JavaScript
8 18 (1.94%) MATLAB
9 17 (1.83%) Bash
9 17 (1.83%) T-SQL
10 13 (1.40%) TypeScript
11 10 (1.08%) C#
11 10 (1.08%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 9 (0.97%) R
13 8 (0.86%) VBA
14 7 (0.75%) Go
14 7 (0.75%) VB
15 5 (0.54%) PHP
16 4 (0.43%) VBScript
17 3 (0.32%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 226 (24.30%) Degree
2 121 (13.01%) Security Cleared
3 116 (12.47%) BPSS Clearance
4 48 (5.16%) Master's Degree
5 47 (5.05%) SC Cleared
6 37 (3.98%) Computer Science Degree
7 25 (2.69%) CISA
7 25 (2.69%) CISSP
8 24 (2.58%) CISM
9 22 (2.37%) CGEIT
9 22 (2.37%) FFIEC
9 22 (2.37%) SANS
10 20 (2.15%) DV Cleared
11 16 (1.72%) Chartered Engineer
11 16 (1.72%) HNC
11 16 (1.72%) ISTQB
12 15 (1.61%) PMI Certification
12 15 (1.61%) PMP
13 12 (1.29%) HND
14 8 (0.86%) ACCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 133 (14.30%) Data Quality
2 89 (9.57%) QA
3 51 (5.48%) GDPR
4 39 (4.19%) ISO/IEC 15288
5 33 (3.55%) Accessibility
6 22 (2.37%) COBIT
6 22 (2.37%) NIST
7 19 (2.04%) SLA
8 17 (1.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 16 (1.72%) ISO 20022
10 13 (1.40%) SEPA
11 11 (1.18%) GRC
11 11 (1.18%) WCAG
12 10 (1.08%) Good Clinical Practice
12 10 (1.08%) IFRS
13 9 (0.97%) TARGET2
14 8 (0.86%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 8 (0.86%) GxP
15 7 (0.75%) ISO/IEC 12207
16 6 (0.65%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 52 (5.59%) Docker
2 18 (1.94%) Firmware
3 14 (1.51%) Active Directory
4 6 (0.65%) VMware Infrastructure
5 5 (0.54%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.32%) VMware ESXi
6 3 (0.32%) vSphere
7 2 (0.22%) Ceph
7 2 (0.22%) Lustre
7 2 (0.22%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 1 (0.11%) iptables
8 1 (0.11%) OpenAM
8 1 (0.11%) OpenDJ
8 1 (0.11%) OpenIDM
8 1 (0.11%) pfSense
8 1 (0.11%) Terminal Services
8 1 (0.11%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 46 (4.95%) Kubernetes
2 35 (3.76%) Terraform
3 17 (1.83%) Grafana
4 16 (1.72%) Ansible
5 12 (1.29%) Prometheus
6 9 (0.97%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
6 9 (0.97%) SCCM
7 7 (0.75%) Microsoft Intune
8 5 (0.54%) Argo
8 5 (0.54%) Rancher
8 5 (0.54%) yum
9 2 (0.22%) BMC PATROL
9 2 (0.22%) Nessus
9 2 (0.22%) PowerCLI
9 2 (0.22%) Puppet
10 1 (0.11%) Control-M
10 1 (0.11%) Kibana
10 1 (0.11%) Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.11%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 128 (13.76%) Microsoft
2 54 (5.81%) SAP
3 48 (5.16%) Oracle
4 29 (3.12%) Salesforce
5 19 (2.04%) Foundry
6 17 (1.83%) Cisco
7 15 (1.61%) IBM
8 14 (1.51%) OpenAI
8 14 (1.51%) ServiceNow
8 14 (1.51%) Software AG
9 13 (1.40%) Adobe
10 12 (1.29%) Automation Anywhere
10 12 (1.29%) Databricks
10 12 (1.29%) Google
10 12 (1.29%) Red Hat
10 12 (1.29%) UiPath
11 9 (0.97%) Intapp
12 8 (0.86%) VMware
13 7 (0.75%) Citrix
13 7 (0.75%) Guidewire