The appointment is effective January 18.

Pechersky was previously senior vice-president, general counsel and secretary for marketing firm Harte-Hanks.

Earlier in his career, he served as deputy general counsel and secretary for international energy company Unocol, which was acquired by Chevron in 2005.

Last week, the new producer announced the appointment of William Owens, C Kevin McArthur, and Steven Nance as independent directors of its board effective January 5.

The three join existing board members Preston Chiaro, William Fox III, Chris Tong and Colin Marshall as well as chairman Keith Bailey.

Owens, who will chair Cloud Peak’s nominating and corporate governance committee and serve on its compensation committee, was previously the governor of Colorado from 1999 to 2007.

McArthur was formerly president and chief executive officer of Goldcorp and Glamis Gold. He will chair Cloud Peak’s health safety environment and communities committee and will serve on the nominating and corporate governance committee.

Nance, a past president of Peoples Energy Production Company, has also held the seat of president and CEO of Xplor Energy. He will work on Cloud Peak’s compensation and audit committees.