JetZero is seeking a Controller to join the team and own the accounting function end-to-end. This role will focus on building the team, streamlining the close process, and preparing the company for the rigor of public-company reporting. This role will report to the CFO and serve as the technical accounting backbone of a hardware-intensive, dual use aerospace company scaling toward full-scope airplane OEM with the path towards public offering. If you want to build something from the ground up in a category-defining company, this is the role.
What You'll Do:
Month-End Close & Financial Reporting
- Own and manage GAAP-compliant month-end close, driving cycle time toward a 15-day target within the first year.
- Ensure complex accounting issues are identified and addressed on a monthly basis
- Translate technical accounting findings into clear, actionable language for executive leadership.
Audit & Compliance
- Lead the relationship with external auditors and manage completion of the annual financial audit.
- Present audit findings and remediation plans to internal executive leadership.
- Build and maintain documentation, internal controls, and reporting frameworks consistent with public-company requirements.
Operations & Process Improvement
- Identify and implement process improvements across the accounting function - there is significant greenfield opportunity here.
- Manage accounts payable and accounts receivable to ensure timely incoming and outgoing payments.
- Oversee cost accounting for physical product manufacturing, including defense contract compliance.
- Manage multi-currency consolidation across international entities.
- Partner with executive leadership on tax incentive management and related reporting.
Team Building
- Hire, develop, and lead an accounting team able to support public company-level requirements into the future.
- Establish scalable workflows and clear ownership as the function grows in complexity and headcount.
Who You Are:
- A technically deep, hands-on accounting leader who thrives in ambiguity and is energized by building a function
- Comfortable operating without a playbook. Able to drive opportunities for improvement into action plans and implement them.
- Comfortable within a dynamic start-up environment where priorities are dynamically and constantly adjusted, while being able to maintain rigor required of the accounting and controlling function.
- A clear communicator who can translate complex accounting into language that lands with operators and executives alike.
- Naturally curious and detail-oriented, with a sharp eye for inconsistencies and a process-minded approach to solving them.
- Excited by the intersection of hard tech, aerospace, and defense - and motivated by the mission, not just the role.
What You Bring:
- CPA (active)
- 8+ yearsof progressive accounting leadership experience, including time in a startup, manufacturing or hardware environment
- Public accounting background, big 4 firm a significant plus
- Demonstrated experience building and leading an accounting team
- Cost accounting expertise for manufactured products
- Defense contracting accounting knowledge (FAR/DFARS compliance)
- IPO readiness experience - preparation of SEC-required documentation and public-company reporting
- Multi-currency consolidation across international subsidiaries
- Hands-on experience managing external audit
Preferred Skills
- Experience scaling a company from growth stage through IPO
- Familiarity with government tax incentive programs (R&D credits, CHIPS Act, etc.)
- Comfort operating in a fast-moving, resource-constrained startup environment
- Leading edge knowledge of AI integration into accounting / finance functions - a significant plus
Compensation:
Our compensation package is a blend of base salary and equity options for eligible employees. The base salary is one part of a broader compensation package and is determined within a set range. These ranges are based on market benchmarks for each role, level, and location.
The expected salary range for this position is between $220,000 and $250,000.
Benefits:
- Unlimited PTO
- 10 paid holidays
- 401(k)
- Medical, Dental, Vision insurance
- Disability Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Equity tax advisory services
- Supportive work culture