Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) hired Neal H. Shah as its vice president of investor relations, the Dallas-based company said June 15.

Neal comes to Pioneer with a "strong financial and equity research background," most recently working at Thrivent Asset Management and Nuveen Asset Management, according to a company press release. He is set to join Pioneer on June 29 and will report to Frank Hopkins, senior vice president of investor relations.

At Thrivent and Nuveen, Neal was responsible for energy sector stock selection. Prior to that, he held various financial analysis positions at Target Corp., Piper Jaffray & Co., RBC Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs & Co.

Neal has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Louisiana State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, where he was a Siebel Scholar and a recipient of the Irwin J. Biederman Leadership award.