diff --git a/.helm/starter/templates/operator-controller/_operator-controller.tpl b/.helm/starter/templates/operator-controller/_operator-controller.tpl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..34ca6d67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.helm/starter/templates/operator-controller/_operator-controller.tpl
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{{/*
+This template gets filled with the operator SDK's controller definition
+during chart build
+*/}}
+{{- define "awx-operator.controller" -}}
diff --git a/.helm/starter/templates/operator-controller/controller-overlay.yaml b/.helm/starter/templates/operator-controller/controller-overlay.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a4b3e664
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.helm/starter/templates/operator-controller/controller-overlay.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{{- $operatorControllerTemplate := (include "awx-operator.controller" $) | fromYaml }}
+{{- $_ := mergeOverwrite $operatorControllerTemplate (index $.Values "operator-controller") }}
+
+{{ $operatorControllerTemplate | toYaml }}
diff --git a/.helm/starter/values.yaml b/.helm/starter/values.yaml
index f6c6db52..5906ecdc 100644
--- a/.helm/starter/values.yaml
+++ b/.helm/starter/values.yaml
@@ -17,3 +17,5 @@ AWX:
     password: Unset
     sslmode: prefer
     type: unmanaged
+
+controller: {}
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3d9615ac..094df378 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -151,10 +151,7 @@ helm-chart-generate: kustomize helm kubectl-slice yq charts
 	for file in charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files/*rolebinding*; do\
 		$(YQ) -i '.subjects[0].namespace = "{{ .Release.Namespace }}"' $${file};\
 	done
-	# Add .spec.replicas for the controller-manager deployment
-	for file in charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files/deployment-*-controller-manager.yaml; do\
-		$(YQ) -i '.spec.replicas = "{{ (.Values.Operator).replicas | default 1 }}"' $${file};\
-	done
+
 	# Correct .metadata.name for cluster scoped resources
 	cluster_scoped_files="charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files/clusterrolebinding-awx-operator-proxy-rolebinding.yaml charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files/clusterrole-awx-operator-metrics-reader.yaml charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files/clusterrole-awx-operator-proxy-role.yaml";\
 	for file in $${cluster_scoped_files}; do\
@@ -162,10 +159,16 @@ helm-chart-generate: kustomize helm kubectl-slice yq charts
 	done
 	# Correct the reference for the clusterrolebinding
 	$(YQ) -i '.roleRef.name += "-{{ .Release.Name }}"' 'charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files/clusterrolebinding-awx-operator-proxy-rolebinding.yaml'
-	# Correct .spec.replicas type for the controller-manager deployment
+
+	# Feed controller deployment file into template to allow for override from values
 	for file in charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files/deployment-*-controller-manager.yaml; do\
-		$(SED_I) "s/'{{ (.Values.Operator).replicas | default 1 }}'/{{ (.Values.Operator).replicas | default 1 }}/g" $${file};\
+		cat $${file} >> charts/$(CHART_NAME)/templates/operator-controller/_operator-controller.tpl;\
+		echo "\n---" >> charts/$(CHART_NAME)/templates/operator-controller/_operator-controller.tpl;\
+		rm -f $${file} ;\
 	done
+	echo '{{- end -}}' >> charts/$(CHART_NAME)/templates/operator-controller/_operator-controller.tpl
+
+
 	# move all custom resource definitions to crds folder
 	mkdir charts/$(CHART_NAME)/crds
 	mv charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files/customresourcedefinition*.yaml charts/$(CHART_NAME)/crds/.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 630c3e63..3cc4b274 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Use `--force-conflicts` flag to resolve the conflict.
 kubectl apply --server-side --force-conflicts -k github.com/ansible/awx-operator/config/crd?ref=<VERSION>
 ```
 
-## Configuration
+## Custom Resource Configuration
 
 The goal of adding helm configurations is to abstract out and simplify the creation of multi-resource configs. The `AWX.spec` field maps directly to the spec configs of the `AWX` resource that the operator provides, which are detailed in the [main README](https://github.com/ansible/awx-operator/blob/devel/README.md). Other sub-config can be added with the goal of simplifying more involved setups that require additional resources to be specified.
 
@@ -246,6 +246,28 @@ AWX:
 
 ## Values Summary
 
+### Controller
+The configuration of the `awx-operator-controller-manager` `Deployment` resource can be overridden by the
+`operator-controller` field. Any fields specified under this key will map directly onto the root hierarchy of the [Deployment](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/controllers/deployment/) configuration.
+
+For example, to override the replicas of the controller deployment, use:
+
+```yml
+# values
+operator-controller:
+  spec:
+    replicas: 4
+```
+
+Similarly, to add or override annotations:
+```yml
+#values
+operator-controller:
+  metadata:
+    annotations:
+      my-key: my-value
+```
+
 ### AWX
 
 | Value | Description | Default |
@@ -263,12 +285,6 @@ AWX:
 |---|---|---|
 | `extraDeploy` | array of additional resources to be deployed (supports YAML or literal "\|") | - |
 
-### Operator
-
-| Value | Description | Default |
-|---|---|---|
-| `Operator.replicas` | Number of controller-manager instance replicas | `1` |
-
 ### customSecrets
 
 | Value | Description | Default |
@@ -400,10 +416,6 @@ Where possible, defer to `AWX.spec` configs before applying the abstracted confi
 
 This chart is built using the Makefile in the [awx-operator repo](https://github.com/ansible/awx-operator). Clone the repo and run `make helm-chart`. This will create the awx-operator chart in the `charts/awx-operator` directory. In this process, the contents of the `.helm/starter` directory will be added to the chart.
 
-### Future Goals
-
-All values under the `AWX` header are focused on configurations that use the operator. Configurations that relate to the Operator itself could be placed under an `Operator` heading, but that may add a layer of complication over current development.
-
 ## Chart Publishing
 
 The chart is currently hosted on the gh-pages branch of the repo. During the release pipeline, the `index.yaml` stored in that branch is generated with helm chart entries from all valid tags. We are currently unable to use the `chart-releaser` pipeline due to the fact that the complete helm chart is not committed to the repo and is instead built during the release process. Therefore, the cr action is unable to compare against previous versions.