Controller, Accounting, Financial Compliance

Controller

Long Beach, CA

Today's aircraft contribute around 4% of global CO2 emissions, equivalent to the emissions of 200 million cars. This is only going to increase:
Air travel is forecasted to double by 2050, while meaningful efficiency gains using current airplanes have hit a wall.

Jet Zero is developing a blended-wing body (BWB) aircraft. It uses up to 50% less fuel and will be built to accommodate zero-emission hydrogen propulsion. Jet Zero is the inevitable solution to sustainable air travel.

We are experienced aerospace professionals and engineers, excited about the future. That future will only be possible if we share our vision and what it means to people's lives: carbon-free flight that is better for both passengers and airlines around the world.

Jet Zero 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+ years of 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…