Houston-based Stellar Bank has hired John Ensminger to serve as chief information officer. He brings more than two decades of experience in leading enterprise and global IT functions, driving technology strategy, innovation and transformation across various industries, including financial services, life sciences/biologics and internet startups.

Prior to joining Stellar Bank, Ensminger served as executive vice president and chief information and technology officer at Broadway Bank. Before that, he held technology positions at USAA; Acelity, a medical technology company; and SAP Ariba, a software and information technology services company.

A U.S. Army veteran, Ensminger holds a BS degree in computer information systems from Our Lady of the Lake University, for which he also served for three years as a board of trustees member. Ensminger is the co-inventor of two patents used by USAA. One patent focuses on the systems and methods for testing software and storing and tracking assets with the software; the second patent involves systems and methods for providing a test automation framework with a unified user interface.

“John has a proven track record of driving technology innovation to make banking easier for our customers as well as our internal staff,” says Ray Vitulli, CEO. “We look forward to what the future will bring under John’s leadership.”

Established in 2007, Stellar Bank operates more than 50 branches in East Texas, the Houston region and the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.