USAA Risk Services

Problem

Internal teams needed a reliable, compliant way to access core risk data without navigating legacy complexity.

Impact

Built production APIs that partner teams across the organization now use daily. Worked closely with product owners, backend engineers, and internal stakeholders to make risk data accessible and self-serve.

Technical Approach

• Designed and deployed strict GraphQL APIs using Java and Spring Boot.
• Enhanced internal observability tools by unifying disparate data sources.
• Built responsive React dashboards to give stakeholders visibility into risk metrics.

Architecture Decisions

• Contract-first GraphQL API layer over core risk services using Java and Spring Boot.
• Typed front-end integrations for operational dashboards and internal support tooling.
• Data-access partitioning to separate source-of-record from troubleshooting data paths.

Reliability and Evaluation

• Test-gated deployments with schema validation to prevent API contract regressions.
• Structured logging and observability hooks for rapid incident diagnosis.
• Secure defaults and compliance-aware patterns embedded in service interfaces.

Delivery and Operations

• Shipped incrementally with Agile team workflows and shared Jira/Git ownership.
• Reduced partner-team support loops by making data retrieval predictable and self-serve.
• Improved deployment confidence through repeatable release and validation checks.

Results

• Consolidated fragmented data access into a single self-serve API layer, eliminating recurring partner-team support loops.
• Introduced schema-validated deployment gates that caught contract regressions before production.

What I Learned

• Clear interfaces (API contracts) allow teams to move fast safely.
• Effective production systems require close collaboration between engineers, product owners, and end users.