With global higher education increasingly emphasizing graduate employability, music education is facing distinctive challenges arising from the shifting dynamics of the creative industry and the misalignment between traditional curricula and market expectations. In this context, curriculum leadership has emerged as a strategic mechanism for aligning educational structures with the development of employability. This study aimed to develop and validate a qualitative research instrument to assess curriculum leadership practices concerning music career employability in higher education. Key themes related to leadership strategies, curriculum structures, and employability development were extracted from a systematic literature review conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Based on transformational leadership and curriculum leadership theories, the review informed the construction of a semi-structured interview instrument. Five experts in curriculum leadership and music education reviewed the instrument under expert panels. Subsequently, eight members from three stakeholder groups participated in the pilot test to evaluate its clarity, relevance, and contextual fit. The final instrument set comprises three qualitative interview instruments (for academic leaders, music lecturers, and students), consisting of 16, 16, and 17 open-ended items, respectively, aligned with six core dimensions. Expert evaluations confirmed strong content validity, with S-CVI/Ave scores of 0.925 for academic leaders, 0.9125 for music lecturers, and 0.929 for students, thus supporting the instruments’ theoretical coherence and contextual applicability within Chinese higher education in music. This study presents a validated and contextually grounded instrument for assessing curriculum leadership in music education. The proposed tool enables future empirical research and offers practical guidance for curriculum reform to enhance student employability in creative industries.