Financial Controller

About Pairwise:

Pairwise is agriculture’s gene editing powerhouse, building a healthier world through partnership and plant innovation. Co-founded by CRISPR pioneers, the company’s Fulcrum® Platform accelerates the development of climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops that are easier to grow and better to eat.

Founded in 2017 and based in Durham, North Carolina, Pairwise partners with global leaders and nonprofit institutions to help breeders move faster and transform food and agriculture for farmers, consumers, and the planet. The company collaborates with partners and licenses its Fulcrum® CRISPR tools to diversify breeding programs and bring innovations to market faster—from developing the world’s first pitless cherry to improving staple crops such as corn, soy, cacao, yam, and rice.

Backed by leading investors including Deerfield, Aliment Capital, Leaps by Bayer, Temasek, and Corteva Catalyst, Pairwise has raised $155 million in total funding. In 2025, the company was recognized as one of MIT Technology Review's 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch and named to Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in Agriculture, while also earning "Best Ag-Bio Company" honors in the Triangle Business Journal's Life Sciences Awards. For more information, visit www.pairwise.com.

About This Role:

Pairwise is entering a pivotal chapter — our gene-editing products are moving to commercial launch, our Fulcrum platform is being licensed globally, and our financial operations need to keep pace with that growth. We’re looking for a Controller who will own the integrity and accuracy of our financial reporting while simultaneously rethinking how we do the work. This isn’t a “keep the lights on” role — it’s equal parts stewardship and transformation.

The Controller will be the person our leadership team trusts to ensure our books are accurate and our reporting tells a clear story. The Controller will own the month-end close, financial statement preparation, and reporting cycles end-to-end — not as a task manager, but as the accountable owner who can speak to the numbers with confidence and context. This role leads forecasting and financial planning and analysis, helping the team understand how operational decisions flow through to our cash position and runway. At the same time, the Controller will be a driving force in our effort to modernize and streamline our accounting operations.

We’re actively evaluating which processes can be automated, simplified, or eliminated — and we need someone with the accounting depth to know what matters, the critical thinking to challenge how it’s done today, and the initiative to build something better. The Controller will report to the Director of Finance and will be joining an energetic, fun, and highly motivated Accounting and Finance Team who never backs down from a challenge and always supports one another.

Collaboration and teamwork are at the heart of who we are at Pairwise, so the ability to work both independently and as a member of a team is necessary for success. Clear communication to internal and external stakeholders is critical in this role.

Essential Functions:

• Lead the accounting function with full accountability for the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of all financial reporting, including GAAP-compliant three statement financial statements and board-ready deliverables.
• Architect and continuously improve the month-end and quarter-end close process, setting the standard for rigor, efficiency, and cycle time — not just executing the checklist, but owning the framework.
• Serve as the company’s technical accounting authority, providing guidance on complex areas including revenue recognition (ASC 606), lease accounting (ASC 842), contract accounting, and emerging transactions as the business scales.
• Drive the transformation of accounting operations — evaluate current workflows, eliminate low-value manual processes, and build scalable infrastructure that supports the company’s growth trajectory.
• Lead monthly financial reforecasting on both an accrual and cash basis, ensuring that actuals translate cleanly into forecasts and that leadership has a clear, real-time understanding of cash runway, burn drivers, and risks to assumptions.
• Play a central role in the annual budgeting process, partnering with cost center owners to build bottoms-up cost assumptions, pressure-test spending plans, and deliver a consolidated budget that aligns with the company's strategic priorities and longe range plan.
• Own the relationship with external auditors, leading annual and interim audit processes with the preparation and judgment to resolve issues proactively rather than reactively.
• Communicate financial results and insights to leadership with the business context and narrative clarity that drives informed decision-making — not just reporting numbers, but interpreting them.
• Oversee all compliance-related accounting activities, including coordination with external tax advisors, fixed asset management, payroll oversight, and regulatory reporting.
• Establish and maintain the company’s accounting policies and internal controls, ensuring they evolve appropriately as Pairwise moves from R&D-stage operations to commercial revenue.
• Build the foundation for a scalable finance organization, developing the processes, documentation, and institutional knowledge that will support future team growth.

Required Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, or equivalent experience in the function.
• 10 years of combined public and private company accounting experience. CPA strongly preferred.
• Owning the month-end financial closing process.
• NetSuite and Workday Adaptive Planning or similar experience is strongly desired.
• Proficiency in excel required.
• Preference for an individual who is comfortable using LLMs for automation opportunities.
• Broad working knowledge across business functions as well as a skilled collaborator and communicator.
• Service oriented mindset with an ability to execute without specific direction.

Offerings:

• Comprehensive Benefits Plan, including Medical, Dental, Vision, HSA/FSA, 401k, Life Insurance, Short-Term & Long-Term Disability, and more!
• Flexible PTO (use what you need, when you need it), in addition to company holidays
• Casual work environment.
• Mission-driven organization focused on creating healthier fruits and veggies.
• A cutting-edge, driven community looking to lead the industry in innovation and nutrition.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit and use hands to finger, handle or feel, and techniques that require fine motor skills and repetitive motions. The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. The employee is regularly required to talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

EEO Statement:

We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Pairwise we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

No recruiters please.