Andrew Slentz was promoted to executive vice-president and chief human resources officer, replacing Sharon Fiehler, who will take the role of executive vice-president for the office of chief executive officer ahead of her planned retirement on June 30.

In his role, Slentz has executive responsibility for organisational and employee development, benefits, compensation, international human resources, security and facilities management.

Prior to joining Peabody in 2010, Slentz was senior vice-president of human resources for people and organisation support at Rio Tinto.

Peabody also announced several changes to the company's operational structure.

The company's global sales and marketing, trading, business development and strategy functions will be reorganised into two groups; a global marketing and trading group and a global development and strategy group.

"This new structure enables our business units to focus even more intensely on safety, productivity, cost containment and operational excellence," said Peabody Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory Boyce.