Retracing the steps of Jérôme Ocana de Sentuary’s prolific career is no mean task! He began his career as a naval officer in 1990 and soon joined the submarine force and was assigned responsibility for Energy-Propulsion on the Junon (Daphne class) and the Agosta. In 1998, he was seconded to Naval Group by the French Navy. In this capacity, he conducted trials for the Agosta 90B and provided training to the customer’s crew. On acceptance of the submarine (transfer of ownership), he assumed the role of Warranty Engineer and was involved in certification of the crews of submarines built in Pakistan.
From Chile to Cherbourg, the adventure continues…
In 2001, the French Navy seconded Jérôme to the Scorpène® program in Chile where, as a technical and operational expert, he contributed to designing the first submarine in the class, working closely with the Armada of Chile for two years, before conducting the ship’s harbour and sea trials. With the crew of the SS (for sub-surface) O’Higgins, Jérôme left France and reached the Chilean port of Valparaiso after a stopover in Colombia, a memorable landmark on its voyage.
The Chilean adventure is not over. “The Scorpène® Chile program included the construction of two submarines, the first in France under the supervision of Naval Group and the second under that of the Spanish company Navantia, by whom I was mandated to ensure the quality of the SS Carrera, the second Chilean submarine,” he explains. Jérôme sailed with the crew taking the ship from Cartagena (Spain) to Valparaiso. He spent three hundred days in all sailing with the Chilean Navy.
Jérôme and his family then returned France, when the French Navy offered him the opportunity to join the Scorpène® Malaysia program in Cherbourg as an advisor to the Royal Malaysian Navy program team, starting a new chapter in this adventure. He was then appointed Project Officer for the Barracuda program.
From military to civilian life at Naval Group
In October 2011, Jérôme retired from the Navy and joined the Naval Group site of Cherbourg, as the Head of the Safety, Diving Safety and Manoeuvring Department. His technical and operational expertise in the design and use of submarines had a real impact on the Brazilian and Indian submarine programs, as well as on the Barracuda program. His proximity to Naval Group, as well as his knowledge of its submarine products, teams and technical repository, all contributed not only to his integration but also to his development.
In 2016, Jérôme joined the Brazilian Scorpène® program as an Acceptance Engineer, preparing for the submarine’s transfer of ownership to the Brazilian Navy for its entry into active service. In November 2018, he joined the operational marketing teams in a cross-functional role intended to understand customers’ needs at the earliest stage and to promote Naval Group’s value offer. Today, as the Submarine Export Projects Director, Jérôme is in charge of preparing tenders to offer customers the most appropriate response to their needs.