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 15 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
15 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 118 152 186
Rank change year-on-year +34 +34 -17
Contract jobs citing Validation 797 1,003 1,343
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.87% 1.76% 1.54%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.17% 1.96% 1.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 389 567 768
10th Percentile £325 £373 £350
25th Percentile £419 £458 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £550 £515
Median % change year-on-year -8.18% +6.80% +14.44%
75th Percentile £600 £688 £613
90th Percentile £694 £950 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £495 £475
% change year-on-year +1.01% +4.21% +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 166 166 76
10th Percentile £25.53 £42.50 £26.13
25th Percentile £52.50 £52.15 £42.50
Median hourly rate £60.50 £63.23 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -4.32% +14.96% +29.41%
75th Percentile £73.63 £68.75 £64.89
90th Percentile £76.93 £77.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.50 £62.50 £50.00
% change year-on-year - +25.00% +11.11%

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 36,687 51,295 79,236
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.22% 89.83% 90.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,611 35,552 55,630
10th Percentile £300 £325 £343
25th Percentile £413 £438 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +3.77% +8.16%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £638
90th Percentile £750 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £476
% change year-on-year - +5.04% +8.51%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,428 1,693 1,906
10th Percentile £12.75 £10.77 £12.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £16.13 £15.63
Median hourly rate £36.05 £36.00 £25.68
Median % change year-on-year +0.13% +40.19% +4.82%
75th Percentile £60.00 £65.00 £49.52
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £37.50 £35.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year +7.14% +75.00% -6.98%

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 15 May 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 15 May 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 15 May 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 +31 718 £500 -9.50% 870
UK excluding London +33 443 £500 +1.01% 710
London +18 275 £539 -14.65% 192
Work from Home +59 269 £525 -4.55% 295
South East +4 102 £500 - 206
South West +12 100 £431 -24.61% 103
East of England +4 87 £488 -2.50% 122
North of England +65 85 £463 -9.31% 110
Midlands +21 51 £500 +25.00% 141
North West +36 44 £500 - 73
West Midlands +16 38 £475 +5.56% 97
Yorkshire +43 34 £430 -42.67% 31
East Midlands +10 15 £540 +35.00% 44
Northern Ireland +15 11 £600 - 2
Scotland +13 9 £575 +21.05% 43
North East +12 7 £500 -9.09% 7
Isle of Man - 2 - - 1
Wales +19 1 - - 18

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 31 (3.89%) Confluence
2 22 (2.76%) SAS
3 20 (2.51%) SharePoint
4 12 (1.51%) Apache Spark
5 10 (1.25%) CMS
6 6 (0.75%) Apache
6 6 (0.75%) Sitecore CMS
7 4 (0.50%) Microsoft Exchange
8 3 (0.38%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.38%) Oracle Workflow
8 3 (0.38%) WebSphere
9 2 (0.25%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 1 (0.13%) Jupyter
10 1 (0.13%) WordPress
Applications
1 48 (6.02%) Microsoft Excel
2 37 (4.64%) Simulink
3 34 (4.27%) Microsoft Office
4 30 (3.76%) Stateflow
5 18 (2.26%) AutoCAD
6 16 (2.01%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 7 (0.88%) Microsoft Project
8 6 (0.75%) MS Visio
8 6 (0.75%) Spreadsheet
9 5 (0.63%) TargetLink
10 3 (0.38%) Sketch
11 1 (0.13%) InfoPath
11 1 (0.13%) InVision
11 1 (0.13%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 34 (4.27%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.75%) Magento
3 5 (0.63%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.63%) SAP CO
3 5 (0.63%) SAP FI
3 5 (0.63%) SAP FI/CO
4 4 (0.50%) SAP SD
5 3 (0.38%) Remedy ITSM
5 3 (0.38%) SAP Hybris
5 3 (0.38%) SAP MDG
5 3 (0.38%) Teamcenter
6 2 (0.25%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.25%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.25%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.25%) SAP Business One
6 2 (0.25%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.25%) SAP Payroll
6 2 (0.25%) SAP Retail
6 2 (0.25%) Workday HCM
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 83 (10.41%) Azure
2 51 (6.40%) Power Platform
3 40 (5.02%) AWS
4 27 (3.39%) GCP
5 15 (1.88%) SAP Commerce Cloud
6 14 (1.76%) dbt
7 12 (1.51%) Azure DevOps
7 12 (1.51%) Microsoft 365
8 11 (1.38%) Dynamics 365
8 11 (1.38%) Serverless
9 10 (1.25%) SaaS
10 9 (1.13%) AWS Lambda
10 9 (1.13%) Azure Data Factory
10 9 (1.13%) OCI
11 8 (1.00%) Amazon S3
11 8 (1.00%) Azure Functions
12 7 (0.88%) BrowserStack
12 7 (0.88%) Veeva
13 6 (0.75%) BlazeMeter
13 6 (0.75%) Firebase
Communications & Networking
1 18 (2.26%) SNMP
2 17 (2.13%) TCP/IP
3 15 (1.88%) Software-Defined Radio
4 14 (1.76%) Ethernet
5 13 (1.63%) Internet
6 12 (1.51%) WAN
7 11 (1.38%) LAN
8 9 (1.13%) Firewall
8 9 (1.13%) SSL
9 7 (0.88%) MPLS
9 7 (0.88%) VPN
10 6 (0.75%) DNS
10 6 (0.75%) VSAN
10 6 (0.75%) Wireless
11 5 (0.63%) WLAN
12 4 (0.50%) DHCP
12 4 (0.50%) Network Security
12 4 (0.50%) SD-WAN
12 4 (0.50%) VLAN
12 4 (0.50%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (5.90%) Data Warehouse
2 38 (4.77%) Power BI
3 17 (2.13%) SQL Server
4 13 (1.63%) Relational Database
5 12 (1.51%) Data Lake
6 10 (1.25%) Electronic Patient Records
7 8 (1.00%) Big Data
7 8 (1.00%) Couchbase
7 8 (1.00%) Oracle Database
7 8 (1.00%) SAP HANA
8 7 (0.88%) Amazon Redshift
8 7 (0.88%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 6 (0.75%) Hadoop
9 6 (0.75%) NoSQL
9 6 (0.75%) Tableau
10 5 (0.63%) Oracle Reports
10 5 (0.63%) PostgreSQL
11 4 (0.50%) MongoDB
11 4 (0.50%) MySQL
11 4 (0.50%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 63 (7.90%) JIRA
2 44 (5.52%) Git
3 32 (4.02%) Rational DOORS
4 28 (3.51%) Eclipse
5 19 (2.38%) Bitbucket
6 14 (1.76%) GoogleTest
6 14 (1.76%) Robot Framework
7 13 (1.63%) JMeter
8 12 (1.51%) Selenium
8 12 (1.51%) Subversion
8 12 (1.51%) Visual Studio
9 10 (1.25%) Jenkins
9 10 (1.25%) Rational Rhapsody
10 8 (1.00%) Postman
11 6 (0.75%) Appium
11 6 (0.75%) Cypress.io
11 6 (0.75%) GitLab
12 4 (0.50%) LSMW
13 3 (0.38%) PVCS
13 3 (0.38%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 199 (24.97%) Social Skills
2 179 (22.46%) Finance
3 113 (14.18%) Analytical Skills
4 47 (5.90%) Public Sector
5 41 (5.14%) Automotive
6 40 (5.02%) Manufacturing
7 39 (4.89%) Legal
8 38 (4.77%) Aerospace
9 36 (4.52%) Presentation Skills
10 34 (4.27%) Banking
11 33 (4.14%) Marketing
12 29 (3.64%) Military
13 28 (3.51%) Electronics
14 25 (3.14%) Telecoms
15 21 (2.63%) Retail
16 20 (2.51%) Organisational Skills
17 16 (2.01%) Influencing Skills
18 14 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
18 14 (1.76%) Pharmaceutical
19 13 (1.63%) Law
Job Titles
1 133 (16.69%) Analyst
2 90 (11.29%) Software Engineer
3 67 (8.41%) Architect
4 56 (7.03%) Lead
5 52 (6.52%) Senior
6 51 (6.40%) Developer
7 50 (6.27%) Business Analyst
8 46 (5.77%) Systems Engineer
9 43 (5.40%) Consultant
10 35 (4.39%) Embedded Engineer
11 32 (4.02%) Embedded Software Engineer
12 31 (3.89%) Data Analyst
13 28 (3.51%) Project Manager
14 24 (3.01%) Data Engineer
15 23 (2.89%) C++ Software Engineer
16 22 (2.76%) Principal Engineer
17 21 (2.63%) Test Engineer
18 20 (2.51%) Integration Engineer
18 20 (2.51%) Principal Systems Engineer
19 17 (2.13%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (2.89%) CSS
1 23 (2.89%) HTML
2 19 (2.38%) Node.js
3 16 (2.01%) Web Services
4 12 (1.51%) Kafka
4 12 (1.51%) PySpark
5 11 (1.38%) REST
6 10 (1.25%) ADO
7 9 (1.13%) JSON
8 8 (1.00%) Middleware
8 8 (1.00%) Swagger
9 7 (0.88%) Pandas
9 7 (0.88%) React
10 6 (0.75%) AngularJS
10 6 (0.75%) OpenAPI
10 6 (0.75%) RESTful
10 6 (0.75%) WebdriverIO
11 5 (0.63%) Flash
11 5 (0.63%) XML
12 4 (0.50%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 44 (5.52%) Algorithms
2 33 (4.14%) Management Information System
3 29 (3.64%) Product Ownership
4 21 (2.63%) Self-Motivation
5 12 (1.51%) Legacy Systems
5 12 (1.51%) NHS
6 10 (1.25%) Data Structures
6 10 (1.25%) Life Science
7 9 (1.13%) Linux Command Line
7 9 (1.13%) Operational Technology
8 8 (1.00%) LIMS
8 8 (1.00%) Mobile App
9 7 (0.88%) CMDB
9 7 (0.88%) Credit Risk
9 7 (0.88%) Data Centre
9 7 (0.88%) Data Protection Act
9 7 (0.88%) Embedded Systems
9 7 (0.88%) Onboarding
10 6 (0.75%) DataPower
11 5 (0.63%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 46 (5.77%) Linux
2 41 (5.14%) Windows
3 16 (2.01%) Unix
4 6 (0.75%) Oracle Linux
4 6 (0.75%) Solaris
4 6 (0.75%) VMS
5 5 (0.63%) Android
5 5 (0.63%) Windows Server 2016
6 4 (0.50%) Apple iOS
6 4 (0.50%) SafeRTOS
7 3 (0.38%) Windows Server 2012
7 3 (0.38%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (18.32%) Verification and Validation
2 142 (17.82%) Agile
3 125 (15.68%) Software Engineering
4 124 (15.56%) Problem-Solving
5 118 (14.81%) Migration
6 84 (10.54%) Computer Science
7 79 (9.91%) Data Migration
8 74 (9.28%) User Acceptance Testing
9 72 (9.03%) Project Management
10 68 (8.53%) Data Validation
11 65 (8.16%) Data Modelling
12 61 (7.65%) Test Automation
13 60 (7.53%) ETL
14 59 (7.40%) Scrum
15 58 (7.28%) Data Management
16 51 (6.40%) Systems Engineering
16 51 (6.40%) Use Case
17 50 (6.27%) Analytics
18 49 (6.15%) Business Intelligence
18 49 (6.15%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 101 (12.67%) SQL
2 76 (9.54%) Python
3 72 (9.03%) C++
4 58 (7.28%) C
5 49 (6.15%) JavaScript
6 43 (5.40%) Java
7 41 (5.14%) MATLAB
8 33 (4.14%) C#
9 16 (2.01%) PowerShell
10 15 (1.88%) Embedded C
11 14 (1.76%) Bash
12 13 (1.63%) Ada
12 13 (1.63%) R
13 11 (1.38%) Embedded C++
14 9 (1.13%) Shell Script
15 8 (1.00%) Assembly Language
16 7 (0.88%) T-SQL
16 7 (0.88%) VB
17 5 (0.63%) Perl
17 5 (0.63%) VBA
Qualifications
1 143 (17.94%) Degree
2 105 (13.17%) Security Cleared
3 72 (9.03%) SC Cleared
4 45 (5.65%) Master's Degree
5 30 (3.76%) DV Cleared
6 26 (3.26%) Computer Science Degree
7 13 (1.63%) PhD
8 12 (1.51%) BPSS Clearance
8 12 (1.51%) ISTQB
9 11 (1.38%) Cisco Certification
10 10 (1.25%) ITIL Certification
11 9 (1.13%) CCNA
12 7 (0.88%) Chartered Engineer
12 7 (0.88%) PMI Certification
12 7 (0.88%) PMP
12 7 (0.88%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 4 (0.50%) CCNP
13 4 (0.50%) SAP Certification
14 3 (0.38%) CCA
14 3 (0.38%) Citrix Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 92 (11.54%) QA
2 69 (8.66%) Data Quality
3 29 (3.64%) NIST
4 17 (2.13%) GDPR
4 17 (2.13%) GxP
5 13 (1.63%) PMO
6 12 (1.51%) PCI DSS
7 11 (1.38%) AUTOSAR
8 8 (1.00%) CDISC
8 8 (1.00%) HL7
8 8 (1.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 6 (0.75%) GAMP
9 6 (0.75%) ISO 26262
10 5 (0.63%) Accessibility
10 5 (0.63%) IFRS
10 5 (0.63%) IFRS 9
10 5 (0.63%) ISO/IEC 17025
10 5 (0.63%) MISRA
10 5 (0.63%) MISRA C
11 4 (0.50%) ISO17020
System Software
1 27 (3.39%) Firmware
2 20 (2.51%) VMware Infrastructure
3 11 (1.38%) Virtual Machines
4 7 (0.88%) Docker
4 7 (0.88%) VMware ESXi
4 7 (0.88%) VMware NSX
5 6 (0.75%) Active Directory
5 6 (0.75%) Embedded Firmware
5 6 (0.75%) KVM
6 2 (0.25%) vSphere
7 1 (0.13%) HDFS
7 1 (0.13%) NFS
7 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 7 (0.88%) Kubernetes
2 6 (0.75%) Ansible
2 6 (0.75%) vCenter Server
3 4 (0.50%) FortiGate
3 4 (0.50%) Microsoft Intune
4 3 (0.38%) HP Quality Center
4 3 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
5 2 (0.25%) Functional Safety
5 2 (0.25%) Nmap
5 2 (0.25%) 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 93 (11.67%) Microsoft
2 88 (11.04%) SAP
3 39 (4.89%) Oracle
4 31 (3.89%) Google
5 23 (2.89%) VMware
6 21 (2.63%) Atlassian
7 17 (2.13%) Salesforce
8 16 (2.01%) EMC
9 15 (1.88%) Databricks
9 15 (1.88%) IBM
10 13 (1.63%) Cisco
11 7 (0.88%) Workday
12 6 (0.75%) ServiceNow
12 6 (0.75%) Sitecore
13 5 (0.63%) Adobe
13 5 (0.63%) Cadence
13 5 (0.63%) MathWorks
14 4 (0.50%) Aruba
14 4 (0.50%) Barracuda Networks
14 4 (0.50%) Remedy