Validation Contracts

Validation
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for Validation skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited Validation over the 6 months to 19 April 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
19 Apr 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 132 141 191
Rank change year-on-year +9 +50 -20
Contract jobs citing Validation 769 1,161 1,344
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.76% 1.91% 1.50%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.04% 2.13% 1.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 388 662 787
10th Percentile £314 £363 £345
25th Percentile £418 £459 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £515
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +6.80% +14.44%
75th Percentile £606 £675 £600
90th Percentile £700 £906 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £483 £475
% change year-on-year +3.52% +1.68% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 152 197 69
10th Percentile £22.91 £42.50 £25.50
25th Percentile £50.44 £53.35 £42.50
Median hourly rate £60.00 £62.55 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -4.08% +13.73% +33.33%
75th Percentile £75.18 £65.75 £64.25
90th Percentile £88.75 £72.50 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.25 £62.50 £55.00
% change year-on-year -0.40% +13.64% +29.41%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Validation is in the Processes and Methodologies category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 37,706 54,523 81,413
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.36% 89.87% 90.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,375 37,727 57,191
10th Percentile £300 £325 £338
25th Percentile £413 £438 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% +9.38%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £638
90th Percentile £750 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £475
% change year-on-year - +5.26% +10.47%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,416 1,789 1,947
10th Percentile £12.75 £11.00 £12.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £16.38 £15.25
Median hourly rate £35.00 £36.31 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year -3.59% +45.22% -
75th Percentile £58.70 £65.00 £49.25
90th Percentile £71.88 £75.00 £63.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.00 £36.00 £19.96
% change year-on-year -2.78% +80.41% -7.83%

Validation
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Validation as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Validation in the UK

Validation
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Validation.

Daily rate trend for Validation in the UK

Validation
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Validation over the 6 months to 19 April 2024.

Daily rate histogram for Validation in the UK

Validation
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Validation.

Hourly rate trend for Validation in the UK

Validation
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Validation over the 6 months to 19 April 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for Validation in the UK

Validation
Top 18 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Validation within the UK over the 6 months to 19 April 2024. 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +9 684 £500 -9.09% 833
UK excluding London +5 422 £500 +3.52% 702
Work from Home +32 279 £550 +1.20% 335
London +2 266 £550 -15.38% 164
South East -10 116 £513 +4.59% 187
North of England +78 85 £445 -12.75% 116
East of England -6 81 £488 -2.50% 121
South West -17 70 £425 -22.73% 119
Midlands +11 49 £503 +25.63% 130
North West +34 41 £500 -1.96% 71
Yorkshire +40 34 £425 -43.33% 36
West Midlands +14 31 £575 +24.32% 92
East Midlands +4 18 £405 +30.65% 38
Northern Ireland +11 11 £600 - 6
North East +24 10 £454 -30.15% 12
Scotland -1 9 £575 +16.16% 48
Wales +13 4 £615 +6.96% 11
Isle of Man - 2 - -

Validation
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 27 (3.51%) Confluence
2 20 (2.60%) SharePoint
3 18 (2.34%) SAS
4 15 (1.95%) Apache Spark
5 11 (1.43%) CMS
6 6 (0.78%) Sitecore CMS
7 5 (0.65%) Microsoft Exchange
8 4 (0.52%) Apache
9 3 (0.39%) Apache Airflow
9 3 (0.39%) Oracle Workflow
9 3 (0.39%) WebSphere
10 2 (0.26%) Adobe Experience Manager
11 1 (0.13%) WordPress
Applications
1 52 (6.76%) Microsoft Excel
2 37 (4.81%) Simulink
3 36 (4.68%) Microsoft Office
4 30 (3.90%) Stateflow
5 18 (2.34%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 7 (0.91%) MS Visio
7 6 (0.78%) Microsoft Project
7 6 (0.78%) Spreadsheet
8 5 (0.65%) TargetLink
9 4 (0.52%) AutoCAD
10 2 (0.26%) Sketch
11 1 (0.13%) InVision
11 1 (0.13%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 33 (4.29%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.78%) Magento
3 5 (0.65%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.65%) SAP CO
3 5 (0.65%) SAP FI
3 5 (0.65%) SAP FI/CO
4 4 (0.52%) SAP SD
4 4 (0.52%) Workday HCM
5 3 (0.39%) Oracle ERP
5 3 (0.39%) Salesforce CRM
5 3 (0.39%) SAP Hybris
5 3 (0.39%) SAP MDG
5 3 (0.39%) Teamcenter
6 2 (0.26%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.26%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.26%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.26%) SAP Business One
6 2 (0.26%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.26%) SAP Payroll
6 2 (0.26%) SAP Retail
Cloud Services
1 73 (9.49%) Azure
2 54 (7.02%) Power Platform
3 35 (4.55%) AWS
4 23 (2.99%) GCP
5 14 (1.82%) dbt
6 13 (1.69%) GitHub
7 12 (1.56%) Azure DevOps
7 12 (1.56%) Microsoft 365
8 11 (1.43%) Dynamics 365
8 11 (1.43%) SAP Commerce Cloud
8 11 (1.43%) Serverless
9 9 (1.17%) AWS Lambda
9 9 (1.17%) Azure Data Factory
9 9 (1.17%) SaaS
10 8 (1.04%) Amazon S3
10 8 (1.04%) Azure Functions
10 8 (1.04%) OCI
11 7 (0.91%) Veeva
12 6 (0.78%) Power Automate
12 6 (0.78%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 20 (2.60%) SNMP
2 16 (2.08%) Software-Defined Radio
3 13 (1.69%) Internet
4 12 (1.56%) Firewall
5 10 (1.30%) DNS
6 9 (1.17%) SSL
6 9 (1.17%) WAN
7 8 (1.04%) Ethernet
7 8 (1.04%) LAN
7 8 (1.04%) TCP/IP
8 7 (0.91%) DHCP
9 6 (0.78%) MPLS
9 6 (0.78%) VPN
9 6 (0.78%) Wireless
10 5 (0.65%) VSAN
10 5 (0.65%) Wi-Fi
11 4 (0.52%) SDH
11 4 (0.52%) SD-WAN
11 4 (0.52%) VoIP
11 4 (0.52%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (6.11%) Data Warehouse
2 41 (5.33%) Power BI
3 19 (2.47%) SQL Server
4 14 (1.82%) Relational Database
5 12 (1.56%) Data Lake
6 10 (1.30%) Big Data
6 10 (1.30%) Electronic Patient Records
6 10 (1.30%) Tableau
7 9 (1.17%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 8 (1.04%) Oracle Database
9 7 (0.91%) Amazon Redshift
10 6 (0.78%) Hadoop
11 5 (0.65%) Oracle Reports
11 5 (0.65%) SAP HANA
12 4 (0.52%) Couchbase
12 4 (0.52%) NoSQL
12 4 (0.52%) PostgreSQL
12 4 (0.52%) RDBMS
12 4 (0.52%) SAP Data Services
13 3 (0.39%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 53 (6.89%) JIRA
2 36 (4.68%) Git
3 34 (4.42%) Rational DOORS
4 22 (2.86%) Eclipse
5 20 (2.60%) Bitbucket
6 15 (1.95%) GoogleTest
6 15 (1.95%) Robot Framework
7 11 (1.43%) Selenium
8 10 (1.30%) Rational Rhapsody
9 9 (1.17%) JMeter
9 9 (1.17%) LoadRunner
9 9 (1.17%) Subversion
10 7 (0.91%) Visual Studio
11 6 (0.78%) Jenkins
12 4 (0.52%) CppUnit
12 4 (0.52%) LSMW
12 4 (0.52%) PVCS
13 3 (0.39%) Postman
13 3 (0.39%) Rational Team Concert
13 3 (0.39%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 180 (23.41%) Finance
2 179 (23.28%) Social Skills
3 111 (14.43%) Analytical Skills
4 47 (6.11%) Public Sector
5 41 (5.33%) Automotive
6 39 (5.07%) Manufacturing
7 37 (4.81%) Legal
8 36 (4.68%) Aerospace
8 36 (4.68%) Marketing
9 33 (4.29%) Banking
10 29 (3.77%) Electronics
10 29 (3.77%) Presentation Skills
11 27 (3.51%) Telecoms
12 23 (2.99%) Military
13 22 (2.86%) Retail
14 19 (2.47%) Organisational Skills
15 13 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
15 13 (1.69%) Influencing Skills
15 13 (1.69%) Law
16 12 (1.56%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 144 (18.73%) Analyst
2 83 (10.79%) Software Engineer
3 58 (7.54%) Lead
4 53 (6.89%) Business Analyst
5 49 (6.37%) Senior
6 47 (6.11%) Developer
7 45 (5.85%) Architect
8 44 (5.72%) Systems Engineer
9 42 (5.46%) Consultant
10 38 (4.94%) Embedded Engineer
11 35 (4.55%) Embedded Software Engineer
12 34 (4.42%) Data Analyst
13 27 (3.51%) Project Manager
14 24 (3.12%) Data Engineer
15 22 (2.86%) Integration Engineer
15 22 (2.86%) Principal Engineer
16 21 (2.73%) Test Engineer
17 20 (2.60%) Principal Systems Engineer
18 19 (2.47%) Test Analyst
19 18 (2.34%) Data Migration Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.73%) CSS
1 21 (2.73%) HTML
2 11 (1.43%) PySpark
3 10 (1.30%) ADO
3 10 (1.30%) REST
4 9 (1.17%) Kafka
4 9 (1.17%) Pandas
5 8 (1.04%) Node.js
6 7 (0.91%) Web Services
7 5 (0.65%) JSON
7 5 (0.65%) Middleware
8 4 (0.52%) AngularJS
8 4 (0.52%) Flash
8 4 (0.52%) Lightning Web Components
8 4 (0.52%) React
8 4 (0.52%) Swagger
9 3 (0.39%) Playwright
9 3 (0.39%) SAP Fiori
9 3 (0.39%) Spring Boot
9 3 (0.39%) Twitter Bootstrap
Miscellaneous
1 42 (5.46%) Algorithms
2 35 (4.55%) Management Information System
3 22 (2.86%) Product Ownership
4 20 (2.60%) Self-Motivation
5 13 (1.69%) NHS
6 11 (1.43%) Data Centre
6 11 (1.43%) Life Science
7 9 (1.17%) Data Structures
8 8 (1.04%) Legacy Systems
8 8 (1.04%) LIMS
8 8 (1.04%) Operational Technology
9 7 (0.91%) Data Protection Act
9 7 (0.91%) Embedded Systems
9 7 (0.91%) Multi-touch
9 7 (0.91%) Onboarding
10 6 (0.78%) CMDB
10 6 (0.78%) DataPower
10 6 (0.78%) Linux Command Line
11 5 (0.65%) Analytical Mindset
11 5 (0.65%) Credit Risk
Operating Systems
1 37 (4.81%) Windows
2 36 (4.68%) Linux
3 22 (2.86%) Unix
4 6 (0.78%) Oracle Linux
4 6 (0.78%) Solaris
4 6 (0.78%) VMS
5 5 (0.65%) Windows Server 2016
6 4 (0.52%) SafeRTOS
7 3 (0.39%) Android
7 3 (0.39%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.39%) Windows 10
7 3 (0.39%) Windows 7
7 3 (0.39%) Windows Server 2012
7 3 (0.39%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.13%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 145 (18.86%) Verification and Validation
2 121 (15.73%) Problem-Solving
3 118 (15.34%) Agile
4 117 (15.21%) Migration
5 113 (14.69%) Software Engineering
6 83 (10.79%) Computer Science
7 75 (9.75%) Data Migration
8 74 (9.62%) User Acceptance Testing
9 73 (9.49%) Project Management
10 66 (8.58%) Data Validation
11 65 (8.45%) Data Modelling
12 61 (7.93%) Test Automation
13 60 (7.80%) ETL
14 55 (7.15%) Business Intelligence
15 54 (7.02%) Data Management
16 53 (6.89%) Systems Engineering
17 48 (6.24%) Scrum
18 47 (6.11%) Stakeholder Management
19 46 (5.98%) Data Analysis
20 45 (5.85%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 93 (12.09%) SQL
2 65 (8.45%) Python
3 60 (7.80%) C++
4 59 (7.67%) C
5 41 (5.33%) MATLAB
6 35 (4.55%) JavaScript
7 28 (3.64%) Java
8 22 (2.86%) C#
9 17 (2.21%) Embedded C
10 16 (2.08%) R
11 14 (1.82%) Ada
12 13 (1.69%) Embedded C++
12 13 (1.69%) PowerShell
13 8 (1.04%) Bash
14 7 (0.91%) T-SQL
14 7 (0.91%) VB
15 5 (0.65%) Assembly Language
15 5 (0.65%) Perl
15 5 (0.65%) PL/SQL
15 5 (0.65%) VBA
Qualifications
1 141 (18.34%) Degree
2 104 (13.52%) Security Cleared
3 84 (10.92%) SC Cleared
4 39 (5.07%) Master's Degree
5 25 (3.25%) Computer Science Degree
6 17 (2.21%) DV Cleared
7 12 (1.56%) ISTQB
8 11 (1.43%) PhD
9 10 (1.30%) ITIL Certification
10 9 (1.17%) BPSS Clearance
10 9 (1.17%) Cisco Certification
11 8 (1.04%) CCNA
11 8 (1.04%) PMI Certification
11 8 (1.04%) PMP
11 8 (1.04%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 6 (0.78%) Chartered Engineer
13 4 (0.52%) SAP Certification
14 3 (0.39%) CCA
14 3 (0.39%) CCNP
14 3 (0.39%) Citrix Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 93 (12.09%) QA
2 75 (9.75%) Data Quality
3 24 (3.12%) NIST
4 18 (2.34%) GxP
5 15 (1.95%) PMO
6 14 (1.82%) GDPR
7 11 (1.43%) AUTOSAR
8 9 (1.17%) PCI DSS
9 8 (1.04%) CDISC
9 8 (1.04%) HL7
10 7 (0.91%) ISO/IEC 27001
11 6 (0.78%) GAMP
11 6 (0.78%) IFRS
11 6 (0.78%) IFRS 9
11 6 (0.78%) ISO 26262
12 5 (0.65%) Accessibility
12 5 (0.65%) IEC 61508
12 5 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 17025
12 5 (0.65%) MISRA
12 5 (0.65%) MISRA C
System Software
1 26 (3.38%) Firmware
2 24 (3.12%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (1.95%) Virtual Machines
4 10 (1.30%) Active Directory
5 9 (1.17%) KVM
5 9 (1.17%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.78%) VMware NSX
7 5 (0.65%) Embedded Firmware
8 3 (0.39%) Docker
8 3 (0.39%) VMware Workstation
9 2 (0.26%) vSphere
10 1 (0.13%) HDFS
10 1 (0.13%) NFS
10 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 8 (1.04%) vCenter Server
2 6 (0.78%) Ansible
3 4 (0.52%) FortiGate
3 4 (0.52%) Microsoft Intune
4 3 (0.39%) HP Quality Center
4 3 (0.39%) Kubernetes
4 3 (0.39%) Single Sign-On
5 2 (0.26%) Functional Safety
5 2 (0.26%) HP ALM
5 2 (0.26%) Nmap
5 2 (0.26%) OpenNMS
6 1 (0.13%) Kibana
6 1 (0.13%) QRadar
6 1 (0.13%) SCCM
6 1 (0.13%) Trend Micro Deep Security
Vendors
1 91 (11.83%) Microsoft
2 86 (11.18%) SAP
3 46 (5.98%) Oracle
4 27 (3.51%) Google
4 27 (3.51%) VMware
5 21 (2.73%) Atlassian
6 17 (2.21%) Salesforce
7 16 (2.08%) EMC
8 15 (1.95%) IBM
9 14 (1.82%) Cisco
9 14 (1.82%) Databricks
10 9 (1.17%) Workday
11 6 (0.78%) HP
11 6 (0.78%) Sitecore
12 5 (0.65%) MathWorks
12 5 (0.65%) OpenText
12 5 (0.65%) ServiceNow
13 4 (0.52%) Aruba
13 4 (0.52%) Barracuda Networks
13 4 (0.52%) Pardot