diff --git a/controllers/certificaterequest_controller.go b/controllers/certificaterequest_controller.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..06ebdffd08291844e10c83e747f062b81fd07933
--- /dev/null
+++ b/controllers/certificaterequest_controller.go
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2019 The cert-manager authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package controllers
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
+	apiutil "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/api/util"
+	cmapi "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/apis/certmanager/v1alpha1"
+	api "github.com/smallstep/step-issuer/api/v1beta1"
+	"github.com/smallstep/step-issuer/provisioners"
+	core "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/record"
+	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
+)
+
+// CertificateRequestReconciler reconciles a StepIssuer object.
+type CertificateRequestReconciler struct {
+	client.Client
+	Log      logr.Logger
+	Recorder record.EventRecorder
+}
+
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=certmanager.k8s.io,resources=certificaterequests,verbs=get;list;watch;update
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=certmanager.k8s.io,resources=certificaterequests/status,verbs=get;update;patch
+
+// Reconcile will read and validate a StepIssuer resource associated to the
+// CertificateRequest resource, and it will sign the CertificateRequest with the
+// provisioner in the StepIssuer.
+func (r *CertificateRequestReconciler) Reconcile(req ctrl.Request) (ctrl.Result, error) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	log := r.Log.WithValues("certificaterequest", req.NamespacedName)
+
+	// Fetch the CertificateRequest resource being reconciled
+	cr := new(cmapi.CertificateRequest)
+	if err := r.Client.Get(ctx, req.NamespacedName, cr); err != nil {
+		log.Error(err, "failed to retrieve CertificateRequest resource")
+		return ctrl.Result{}, client.IgnoreNotFound(err)
+	}
+
+	// Check the CertificateRequest's issuerRef and if it does not match the api
+	// group name, log a message at a debug level and stop processing.
+	if cr.Spec.IssuerRef.Group != "" && cr.Spec.IssuerRef.Group != api.GroupVersion.Group {
+		log.V(4).Info("resource does not specify an issuerRef group name that we are responsible for", "group", cr.Spec.IssuerRef.Group)
+		return ctrl.Result{}, nil
+	}
+
+	// If the certificate data is already set then we skip this request as it
+	// has already been completed in the past.
+	if len(cr.Status.Certificate) > 0 {
+		log.V(4).Info("existing certificate data found in status, skipping already completed CertificateRequest")
+		return ctrl.Result{}, nil
+	}
+
+	// Step CA does not support online signing of CA certificate at this time
+	if cr.Spec.IsCA {
+		log.Info("step certificate does not support online signing of CA certificates")
+		return ctrl.Result{}, nil
+	}
+
+	// Fetch the StepIssuer resource
+	iss := api.StepIssuer{}
+	issNamespaceName := types.NamespacedName{
+		Namespace: req.Namespace,
+		Name:      cr.Spec.IssuerRef.Name,
+	}
+	if err := r.Client.Get(ctx, issNamespaceName, &iss); err != nil {
+		log.Error(err, "failed to retrieve StepIssuer resource", "namespace", req.Namespace, "name", cr.Spec.IssuerRef.Name)
+		r.setStatus(ctx, cr, cmapi.ConditionFalse, cmapi.CertificateRequestReasonPending, "Failed to retrieve StepIssuer resource %s: %v", issNamespaceName, err)
+		return ctrl.Result{}, err
+	}
+
+	// Check if the StepIssuer resource has been marked Ready
+	if !stepIssuerHasCondition(iss, api.StepIssuerCondition{Type: api.ConditionReady, Status: api.ConditionTrue}) {
+		err := fmt.Errorf("resource %s is not ready", issNamespaceName)
+		log.Error(err, "failed to retrieve StepIssuer resource", "namespace", req.Namespace, "name", cr.Spec.IssuerRef.Name)
+		r.setStatus(ctx, cr, cmapi.ConditionFalse, cmapi.CertificateRequestReasonPending, "StepIssuer resource %s is not Ready", issNamespaceName)
+		return ctrl.Result{}, err
+	}
+
+	// Load the provisioner that will sign the CertificateRequest
+	provisioner, ok := provisioners.Load(issNamespaceName)
+	if !ok {
+		err := fmt.Errorf("provisioner %s not found", issNamespaceName)
+		log.Error(err, "failed to provisioner for StepIssuer resource")
+		r.setStatus(ctx, cr, cmapi.ConditionFalse, cmapi.CertificateRequestReasonPending, "Failed to load provisioner for StepIssuer resource %s", issNamespaceName)
+		return ctrl.Result{}, err
+	}
+
+	// Sign CertificateRequest
+	signedPEM, trustedCAs, err := provisioner.Sign(ctx, cr)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Error(err, "failed to sign certificate request")
+		return ctrl.Result{}, r.setStatus(ctx, cr, cmapi.ConditionFalse, cmapi.CertificateRequestReasonFailed, "Failed to sign certificate request: %v", err)
+	}
+	cr.Status.Certificate = signedPEM
+	cr.Status.CA = trustedCAs
+
+	return ctrl.Result{}, r.setStatus(ctx, cr, cmapi.ConditionTrue, cmapi.CertificateRequestReasonIssued, "Certificate issued")
+}
+
+// SetupWithManager initializes the CertificateRequest controller into the
+// controller runtime.
+func (r *CertificateRequestReconciler) SetupWithManager(mgr ctrl.Manager) error {
+	return ctrl.NewControllerManagedBy(mgr).
+		For(&cmapi.CertificateRequest{}).
+		Complete(r)
+}
+
+// stepIssuerHasCondition will return true if the given StepIssuer resource has
+// a condition matching the provided StepIssuerCondition. Only the Type and
+// Status field will be used in the comparison, meaning that this function will
+// return 'true' even if the Reason, Message and LastTransitionTime fields do
+// not match.
+func stepIssuerHasCondition(iss api.StepIssuer, c api.StepIssuerCondition) bool {
+	existingConditions := iss.Status.Conditions
+	for _, cond := range existingConditions {
+		if c.Type == cond.Type && c.Status == cond.Status {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func (r *CertificateRequestReconciler) setStatus(ctx context.Context, cr *cmapi.CertificateRequest, status cmapi.ConditionStatus, reason, message string, args ...interface{}) error {
+	completeMessage := fmt.Sprintf(message, args...)
+	apiutil.SetCertificateRequestCondition(cr, cmapi.CertificateRequestConditionReady, status, reason, completeMessage)
+
+	// Fire an Event to additionally inform users of the change
+	eventType := core.EventTypeNormal
+	if status == cmapi.ConditionFalse {
+		eventType = core.EventTypeWarning
+	}
+	r.Recorder.Event(cr, eventType, reason, completeMessage)
+
+	return r.Client.Update(ctx, cr)
+}