diff --git a/cmd/main.go b/cmd/main.go
index 646b9f51..41b273a9 100644
--- a/cmd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/main.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
+	"strings"
 
 	temporaliov1alpha1 "github.com/temporalio/temporal-worker-controller/api/v1alpha1"
 	"github.com/temporalio/temporal-worker-controller/internal/controller"
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	// to ensure that exec-entrypoint and run can make use of them.
 	_ "k8s.io/client-go/plugin/pkg/client/auth"
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/cache"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/healthz"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/log/zap"
 	metricsserver "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/metrics/server"
@@ -41,8 +43,12 @@ func main() {
 	var metricsAddr string
 	var enableLeaderElection bool
 	var probeAddr string
+	var watchNamespace string
 	flag.StringVar(&metricsAddr, "metrics-bind-address", ":8080", "The address the metric endpoint binds to.")
 	flag.StringVar(&probeAddr, "health-probe-bind-address", ":8081", "The address the probe endpoint binds to.")
+	flag.StringVar(&watchNamespace,"watch-namespace","",
+		"Namespace(s) that the controller watches. Can be a single namespace or a comma-separated list. "+
+		"If empty, the controller watches all namespaces.",	)
 	flag.BoolVar(&enableLeaderElection, "leader-elect", false,
 		"Enable leader election for controller manager. "+
 			"Enabling this will ensure there is only one active controller manager.")
@@ -52,10 +58,29 @@ func main() {
 	opts.BindFlags(flag.CommandLine)
 	flag.Parse()
 
+	// If flag is not set, fall back to environment variable
+	if watchNamespace == "" {
+		watchNamespace = os.Getenv("WATCH_NAMESPACE")
+	}
+
+	// Parse comma-separated namespaces into []string, trimming whitespace and dropping empty entries
+	var watchNamespaces []string
+	if watchNamespace != "" {
+		parts := strings.Split(watchNamespace, ",")
+		watchNamespaces = make([]string, 0, len(parts))
+		for _, p := range parts {
+			ns := strings.TrimSpace(p)
+			if ns == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+			watchNamespaces = append(watchNamespaces, ns)
+		}
+	}
+
 	//ctrl.SetLogger(zap.New(zap.UseFlagOptions(&opts)))
 	ctrl.SetLogger(zap.New(zap.JSONEncoder()))
 
-	mgr, err := ctrl.NewManager(ctrl.GetConfigOrDie(), ctrl.Options{
+	managerOptions := ctrl.Options{
 		Scheme: scheme,
 		Metrics: metricsserver.Options{
 			BindAddress: metricsAddr,
@@ -74,7 +99,23 @@ func main() {
 		// if you are doing or is intended to do any operation such as perform cleanups
 		// after the manager stops then its usage might be unsafe.
 		// LeaderElectionReleaseOnCancel: true,
-	})
+	}
+
+	// Scope manager cache/watches to 0/1/N namespaces.
+	if len(watchNamespaces) > 0 {
+		setupLog.Info("running controller in namespace-scoped mode", "namespaces", watchNamespaces)
+
+		defaultNamespaces := map[string]cache.Config{}
+		for _, ns := range watchNamespaces {
+			defaultNamespaces[ns] = cache.Config{}
+		}
+
+		managerOptions.Cache = cache.Options{
+			DefaultNamespaces: defaultNamespaces,
+		}
+	}
+	mgr, err := ctrl.NewManager(ctrl.GetConfigOrDie(), managerOptions)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		setupLog.Error(err, "unable to start manager")
 		os.Exit(1)
diff --git a/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/_helpers.tpl b/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 5b143384..ba851463 100644
--- a/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -18,3 +18,25 @@ Used for matchLabels (Deployments, Services, affinities, etc.)
 app.kubernetes.io/name: temporal-worker-controller
 app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
 {{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Return Role or ClusterRole depending on ownNamespace
+*/}}
+{{- define "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleKind" -}}
+{{- if .Values.rbac.ownNamespace -}}
+Role
+{{- else -}}
+ClusterRole
+{{- end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{/*
+Return RoleBinding or ClusterRoleBinding depending on ownNamespace
+*/}}
+{{- define "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleBindingKind" -}}
+{{- if .Values.rbac.ownNamespace -}}
+RoleBinding
+{{- else -}}
+ClusterRoleBinding
+{{- end -}}
+{{- end -}}
diff --git a/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/manager.yaml b/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/manager.yaml
index 50f8d7b1..5e45e777 100644
--- a/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/manager.yaml
+++ b/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/manager.yaml
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ spec:
           value: "{{ .Release.Name }}/{{ .Release.Namespace }}"
         - name: CONTROLLER_VERSION
           value: "{{ .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }}"
+        {{- with .Values.watchNamespace }}
+        - name: WATCH_NAMESPACE
+          value: {{ . | quote }}
+        {{- end }}
         args:
         - --leader-elect
         {{- if .Values.metrics.enabled }}
diff --git a/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/rbac.yaml b/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/rbac.yaml
index 94b19079..c0d23124 100644
--- a/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/rbac.yaml
+++ b/helm/temporal-worker-controller/templates/rbac.yaml
@@ -59,9 +59,12 @@ subjects:
     namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
-kind: ClusterRole
+kind: {{ include "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleKind" . }}
 metadata:
   name: {{ .Release.Name }}-{{ .Release.Namespace }}-manager-role
+  {{- if .Values.rbac.ownNamespace }}
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  {{- end }}
 rules:
   - apiGroups:
       - ""
@@ -125,15 +128,18 @@ rules:
       - update
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
-kind: ClusterRoleBinding
+kind: {{ include "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleBindingKind" . }}
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/component: rbac
     {{- include "temporal-worker-controller.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
   name: {{ .Release.Name }}-{{ .Release.Namespace }}-manager-rolebinding
+  {{- if .Values.rbac.ownNamespace }}
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  {{- end }}
 roleRef:
   apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
-  kind: ClusterRole
+  kind: {{ include "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleKind" . }}
   name: {{ .Release.Name }}-{{ .Release.Namespace }}-manager-role
 subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
@@ -142,12 +148,15 @@ subjects:
 ---
 # permissions for end users to edit temporalconnections.
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
-kind: ClusterRole
+kind: {{ include "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleKind" . }}
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/component: rbac
     {{- include "temporal-worker-controller.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
   name: {{ .Release.Name }}-{{ .Release.Namespace }}-temporalconnection-editor-role
+  {{- if .Values.rbac.ownNamespace }}
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  {{- end }}
 rules:
   - apiGroups:
       - temporal.io.temporal.io
@@ -170,15 +179,18 @@ rules:
 ---
 # permissions for end users to view temporalconnections.
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
-kind: ClusterRole
+kind: {{ include "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleKind" . }}
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/component: rbac
     {{- include "temporal-worker-controller.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
   name: {{ .Release.Name }}-{{ .Release.Namespace }}-temporalconnection-viewer-role
+  {{- if .Values.rbac.ownNamespace }}
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  {{- end }}
 rules:
   - apiGroups:
-      - temporal.io.temporal.io
+      - temporal.io
     resources:
       - temporalconnections
     verbs:
@@ -186,7 +198,7 @@ rules:
       - list
       - watch
   - apiGroups:
-      - temporal.io.temporal.io
+      - temporal.io
     resources:
       - temporalconnections/status
     verbs:
@@ -194,12 +206,15 @@ rules:
 ---
 # permissions for end users to edit temporalworkerdeployments.
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
-kind: ClusterRole
+kind: {{ include "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleKind" . }}
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/component: rbac
     {{- include "temporal-worker-controller.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
   name: {{ .Release.Name }}-{{ .Release.Namespace }}-temporalworkerdeployment-editor-role
+  {{- if .Values.rbac.ownNamespace }}
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  {{- end }}
 rules:
   - apiGroups:
       - temporal.io
@@ -222,12 +237,15 @@ rules:
 ---
 # permissions for end users to view temporalworkerdeployments.
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
-kind: ClusterRole
+kind: {{ include "temporal-worker-controller.rbac.roleKind" . }}
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/component: rbac
     {{- include "temporal-worker-controller.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
   name: {{ .Release.Name }}-{{ .Release.Namespace }}-temporalworkerdeployment-viewer-role
+  {{- if .Values.rbac.ownNamespace }}
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  {{- end }}
 rules:
   - apiGroups:
       - temporal.io
diff --git a/helm/temporal-worker-controller/values.yaml b/helm/temporal-worker-controller/values.yaml
index 765321dd..a6491d2c 100644
--- a/helm/temporal-worker-controller/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/temporal-worker-controller/values.yaml
@@ -33,6 +33,16 @@ terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 10
 rbac:
   # Specifies whether RBAC resources should be created
   create: true
+  # Specifies whether the RBAC resources should be namespace-scoped or not 
+  # Set to true to create Roles and RoleBindings in the release namespace instead of ClusterRoles and ClusterRoleBindings
+  ownNamespace: false
+
+# Comma-separated list of namespaces the controller should watch.
+# Examples:
+#   watchNamespace: "foo"
+#   watchNamespace: "foo,bar"
+# If empty, the controller watches all namespaces (cluster-wide).
+watchNamespace: ""
 
 serviceAccount:
   # Specifies whether a ServiceAccount should be created